The New Cullen
by dazzledbyu88
Summary: Bella becomes part of the Volturi when Edward leaves her. Now, 50 years later she is sent on an undercover mission to live with the Cullens, aka edward. This story is filled with drama, bratty vampires, royalty, balls and masks, and finally, true love.
1. Prologue: The Assignment

**Hey! Dazzledbyu88 here, this is ANOTHER 'what if Bella was…' story. I know, I'm obsessed with these stories but anyways… this story has the same background as my other story Changed, except Bella has to go under cover and live with the Cullen's, a.k.a, Edward. Only one problem. Bella thinks Edward doesn't love her and is disguised as someone else. What will happen? Read and reply to find out! **

**Disclaimer :Don't own the characters, if I did, Edward would be MINE!!! **

Prologue: The Assignment

I sat in my room, staring at the same ceiling that I had been looking at for the past 25 years of my existence. This was part of my usual routine; after Edward left I was never the same. I was simply a shell, my eyes had no light, my face showed no emotion with the exception of the pain that slipped through my shell walls. Sometimes I wished so badly that I could sleep, but sadly I couldn't. You see after Edward left I was desperate to find something, anything of his to hold on to. I was stupid, and I didn't listen to my dad or Edwards warnings and I went to the meadow, were Laurent bit me. The werewolves had pulled him off of my but the damage was already done and there was no one there to save me. But I guess I had gotten my wish. I was dead, but with that wish came a whole new price to pay. The price of living forever. Desperate for finding a way out of eternal suffering I headed to the Volturi. I knew they would be the only one's that could help me. Instead of grating my wish that had convinced me to become one of them. They thought my powers would be useful to them. I finally decided that I would, maybe if I could do something with my life I might be able to move on. As a vampire I had acquired the ability to transform into anything. All I had to do was picture the image in my head and I would become that. I could grow wings, a tail, or even become invisible. I could do anything, be anything or one. But I knew there was one thing I was never going to be able to be, happy.

Being with the Volturi was great. It took my mind off things. Even though some of the things I was forced to do, frightened me, nothing frightened me more than having to relive the memories of Edward. I was the only member of the family who had a different diet than the others. I had made a vow to myself that I would never hurt a human being. However I was still expected to carry out my 'missions.' I had been assigned to take out any of the vampires that have not been following the rules. I would go alone on these missions because I was the best hunter, and besides from Jane, the most powerful. Surprisingly enough I actually liked my new family, they really weren't that bad and Aro had become like a brother to me. A sick, twisted one but nevertheless a brother who cared about me. I was sitting in my room, my back faced towards the door. My usually position. I was staring emptily out of my window at a happy the happy world of the humans that I had lost. A quiet knock came at my door and Aro stepped in. I barley looked up at him but forced a tiny smile.

"Ah Bella," he said warmly coming to sit next to me.

"Hello Aro," I said quietly.

"I have news Bells," he said with a smile tugging on his lips. "A mission," he said teasing.

"What is it?' I asked, having a mission instantly brightened my spirits. It gave me a purpose.

"Well," he said, reading my face. I knew he was trying to read my thoughts but just like all other vampire powers, it had no affect on me whatsoever.

"Well what?"

"You know how we keep track of the vampire families around the world?"

I nodded impatiently. _Just spit it out! _I thought angrily.

"Well, one of the families has recently acquired a new member. We hear that she has tremendous power. I want to go under cover and keep an eye out on them. We can't afford to let this family overpower us if the time comes. If you think should could be a threat, I want you to take her out. Understand?" He asked, looking into my amber eyes.

"Yes, will I be staying with them or alone?" I asked, my voice having no emotion.

"Well…you see, the leader of the family is a close friend of mine and I have made arrangements for you, my niece, to stay with them, in their house in " he explained to me.

"What's my name?" I asked, obviously I would be using my power.

"Your name will be Clarice Haynes. You were a runaway orphan and was attacked, I saved you and you have been living with us ever since. You only have one power, invisibility, and your human traits. You will be attending school in Anchorage and are staying with them to experience living with humans. Understood?"

"Yes, thank you Aro, I've been having too much free time on my hands and I really needed this. Thank you," I said, giving him a sisterly hug.

"Your welcome bells, be safe. And write,' he said into my ear.

I nodded, pulling away from him. Then I dashed out of my home. In my rush out I caught something Aro had said after I left.

"I'm sorry…" and then I was gone, ready to start my life as Clarice Haynes.


	2. Chapter 1: Arrival

**Disclaimer: Liz is mine, Everything else is Stephanie's! **

**Hey guys! I typed really fast and wrote this all for you guys in only 2 hours (that's really fast for me)! Anyway here's chapter 1. Please read and reply!!**

Chapter 1: Arrival

I had arrived at the airport so that I had barley enough time to catch my flight. I knew I would be alone with myself for quite a while on the plane and didn't want any more time than necessary. I didn't need to pack. I always kept a fully packed suitcase with me incase I had a mission. Also, I was rich. I had, had 50 years to earn enough money for myself and I never spender it unless I needed to. Also, Aro had paid me for my 'services.' Not that it mattered though. I really hated myself for accepting the money that was pushed on me after each mission. Why would I want to be paid for killing someone of my own kind? However I was constantly reminded of what they did to people while they still existed and I finally accepted. I still felt bad about it though.

The plane ride as painful. I did everything I could possibly think of the keep my mind away from the pain. After 50 years I was finally able to listen to music again. But only if it didn't have any talent to it. Beautiful, soft music reminded me of _him _and I wouldn't be able to take it. However I had strangely been able to play the piano. It helped me, to express some of the pain I felt. I was attached to the piano at home. I had become quite good at a lot of things with all my free time but I was far more skilled at piano than anything else. Sometimes, when I was feeling brave, I would play Edward's lullaby. It left me crying but it helped me to remember him. Forgetting was not an option for me. I sat, listening to mindless music, and thinking about my new appearance. I was drawing myself. I had done quite a lot of drawing in the past and I had to admit I had become rather good at it. I decided I would be anything but a brunette. After all _he_ preferred them. I decided to be a blonde, with _slight_ brown highlights. My hair would be mid torso length. My voice and my eyes would remain the same. My eyes being a light aquamarine. I know, I know. I'm not supposed to have that color but I did. I think it was from all the crying I had done, but that was just a theory. I would have freckles and I would make my skin look human pale. As soon as the plane landed I bolted out and headed for the bathroom. I closed myself in a stall and focused on the new me. I felt my hair grow longer and my skin grow darker. I looked down at myself and saw my strawberry blonde hair cascading down my torso. I stepped out to examine myself in the mirror. I was beautiful. My strawberry blonde hair was straight and silky against 'normal' skin. If you looked at me, from a vampire's perspective, you would have guessed I was the most beautiful human in the world. When I was changed I had brought all of my human qualities with me, except the clumsiness. I could cry, something all other vampires could not do, blush, something I was hoping on losing. And the thing that surprised me the most was my ability to sleep. I didn't always have to sleep, I could go for about a day and a half without it but I could. And by far my best ability ever was that I could live off of human food and blood! At home I always ate human food but sometimes I went hunting just for something to do. And I brought my ability to block powers with me. I grabbed my luggage and headed out of the airport. Aro had arranged to get a car for me and it was waiting for me. _Ugh, oh no he didn't!_ I thought angrily, looking at my car. It was beautiful. A Rinspeed Porsche 911, you know, the one where the doors fly _up_. Yeah, he was going to be dead when I got back. I angrily stuffed my luggage in the trunk and got in the drivers seat where I found a note from Aro. I opened in it, annoyed.

Dear Bella,

How do you like my surprise? I know it's a little over the top and that you hate over the top but just consider this payment for your job. I enclosed directions to the house that you'll be staying at. Oh, I'm such an idiot! I forgot to tell you what family you were staying with! Oh well…you'll find out soon enough and when you do promise me something okay? Promise me that you'll stay there and do your job and won't come back to kill me okay? This mission will be very hard but I'm sure you can do it. I have faith in you little sis!

Love,

Aro.

_Oh fabulous! Two surprises in one day! And what's with his stupid promise? I wouldn't go back before my mission was done, no matter how hard it was. _I sighed and stored my letter in my bag. I took out the instructions and followed them at almost human speed, because of my fear of the ice. Alaska was too _white_. It felt like Forks all over again except with a new and exciting color. _Oh joy. _After a whole 45 minutes of driving I finally got to a huge castle like mansion on the outskirts of Anchorage, where I was to be attending University. I pulled up the very long driveway. It really was a beautiful house. It was grey with castle like towers and windows with balconies. It appeared to be very old but so beautiful and peaceful at the same time. I hopped out of the car and grabbed my luggage. I had to reach into the back of my trunk to get it and when I turned around I was sure my dead heart had stopped. I was looking straight into the eyes of Alice Cullen.

I tried to hide the panic and fear in my eyes as she stared at me. _Clam down Bella! She couldn't recognize you, even if she had a vision about you, you would be changed already, unless she saw me changing…Stop it! Do something, don't just stand there!_

"Umm, hi," I said awkwardly. "My name's Clarice, Clair actually, and you are?"  
She snapped out of her state and immediately returned to her old bubbly self.

"Oh, I'm so sorry! My name's Alice Cullen. I'm so glad that you're coming to live with us!" she exclaimed, hugging me. "We've been looking forward to your arrival ever since I saw it in my vision. I can see the future by the way,' she explained to me.

"Oh, well thanks…" I mumbled shyly. My dead heart was racing. If I was staying with the Cullen's that only meant one thing. Edward.

"Anyway, you have to meet the family! We are all thrilled to meet you, well almost all. My brother has been in a bad mood for the past 50 years. You'll have to excuse him. It's not his fault," she left it off there. Not giving out any further information. She looked sad. _Poor Alice_ I thought. We entered the castle and I gasped. The floors were marble inside, the ceiling was raised to reveal chandeliers. The light poured through the windows and my skin glittered. There were two big hallways to my sides and an open fireplace ahead of me. Alice and I took our shoes off there and I left my luggage while we went to meet the family. I followed her closely, not wanting to get lost. My dead heart racing in fear of seeing Edward. I practiced keeping myself calm, remembering Jasper's power. I would also have to meet the new Cullen. The reason I was sent to my personal hell. I already hated the girl, whoever she was.

Finally Alice and I came to a hug sitting room. The walls were decorated in an Victorian style fashion. I saw a fireplace, on the far side of the wall. Golden candles were perched on the walls and the light from the window brightened the room. A piano was in the corner of the room, however it had been covered up and dust had accumulated on it. Expensive chairs and couches were in the center of the room. They looked inviting and Alice motioned for me to sit.

"Wait here, I'll go get the family," she said hurriedly then dashed off.

I sat motionless in this huge room. Fear creeped over my body. I had to do something with myself. I walked over to the piano and took the cover off. It was risky, playing the piano, knowing how much it had reminded me of Edward but I needed to do something, anything. The piano had obviously not been touched in years but was still in pretty good condition. I played my favorite piece, something that I had composed to play when I felt stressed, which was all the time. There was a lot of jumping around involved so it kept me focused. I let the music take over, controlling my body. It wasn't until I had finished the song when I turned around to see all of the Cullen's staring at me. I turned around and blushed a deep red. I awkwardly got up and turned to face them. They had not changed. Alice was smiling widely next to Jasper who had a pleasant smile on his face. Emmett had a goofy smile and Rosalie had a bored expression on her face. Esme and Carlisle's smiles were inviting and friendly. Next to them was a girl that I did not know. She looked almost exactly like the human me except some of her features were harder. Her face reeked of false happiness. I had a feeling that I wouldn't like her. Then finally my eyes lingered to the last Cullen. Edward. He had distanced himself from the family. Standing behind them, barley looking at me. His face was sad, as he fiddled with something in his hands. Carlisle was the first to break the silence.

"Welcome our family Clarice,' he said warmly. "We have been looking forward to your arrival for a while now. Let me introduce you to our family. This is my wife Esme," he said motioning to her.

"Hello Clarice, we're so happy that you're here with us," she said kindly. I wanted to run to her and cry and tell her everything but I kept myself under control.

"You can call me Clair actually," I corrected politely to everyone. Clarice sounded so _old_.

She smiled an nodded. Carlisle re-introduced me to everyone making small talk. They all seemed happy that I was here. Even Rosalie gave me a small smile. Carlisle finally got to the girl.

"Claire, this is Elizabeth or Liz, she's new to the family too," Carlisle said smiling.

'Liz' gave me a fake smile and ran over and hugged me, again another fake hug. In my ear she whispered something so low I could barley hear it with vampire ears.

"Stay away from Edward or you'll regret it,' she whispered threateningly.

She broke away and I returned the fake smile. I was fuming inside. To hell what Jasper thinks. And then finally. I was re-introduced to my angel.

"And finally this is Edward," Carlisle said, giving Edward a warning look. I knew Carlisle was probably having a conversation with Edward in their heads. Edward didn't move from his position, seated on the arm of the couch, with an extremely old copy of_ Wuthering Heights_ in his hands. I internally gasped. It was _my _copy of the book. From 50 years ago. He finally looked up at me, then gave me a look of pure confusion from his honey colored eyes. I knew he was frustrated because he couldn't read my mind. _I wondered if I still smelled the same… _I thought. I smiled at him shyly, blushing a deep red and he turned away. Then turned back towards me and stared at me. "Your eyes, and you blush…how?" he asked in his sugar coated honey smooth voice.

"Well as a human I blushed and cried a lot, I guess that got carried over when I was changed," I explained.

"Hey you know that the blushing part reminds me of-" Emmett started to say but the whole room, including me gave him a look. Edward's tortured face twisted in even more pain. I couldn't let him continue like this.

"So _Wuthering Heights _huh? That's my favorite book," I said, trying to move the conversation off the topic of 'Bella.' He gave a quick nod and I decided that that was as much Edward I was going to be able to take in one day.

"Well it was very nice o meet you all," I said sincerely. _Well almost all of you…_ "But if you wouldn't mind, umm….well one of my abilities is human traits and I feel kinda tired so um…"

"Oh sure honey!" Esme exclaimed. "Alice will show you to your room. One question, do you need to eat?"

I blushed, I didn't want them to go out of their way to get me stuff.

"Um…yes, but I can hunt too if you want me to. I can do both so you don't have to go out of your way."

"Oh don't be silly honey! I haven't had the chance to cook since…a very long time. I'll go get some groceries!" she exclaimed happily.

"But you don't have to…" I trailed off. She was already gone.

Alice chuckled behind me. "Of Claire, you remind me so much of…someone who I loved very much. I think we're going to get a along just fine!" she exclaimed, grabbing my hand and pulling me up the endless staircases to my new room. When we finally got there I gasped again. My room as amazing! The walls were styled in the same fashion as the foyer except that instead of just white, the walls were lined with golden paint. It reminded my of one of the rooms of Pemberley in Pride and Prejudice, the movie. The bed was just as elegant as the walls. It was wooden, painted white with engraved patterns and cravings sketched in. Golden paint once again trimmed the edges of each design. The bedspread of course matched the rest of my room. I looked around further. There was a wardrobe, which was suddenly full thanks to Alice's unpacking. There was a desk on the far side as well has a vanity and a huge closet with lights and a revolving floor.

"I got Jasper to tweak the closets a little,' Alice said with a laugh. I laughed too. Typical Alice.

"I'm going to go wash up, want to hang out later?" I offered, wanting to spend more time with my almost sister, and also not wanting to be alone.

She smiled and nodded, I smiled and got my pajamas. I walked into the bathroom, which was of course, over decorated as well but still beautiful, to find all of my toiletries unpacked. Alice must have had a lot of time with my moment of shock. I turned the water on hot and savored in the delightful feeling of the hot water against my cold skin. I got out of the shower and dried my hair. Inhaling the sweet strawberry scent. Feeling refreshed and rejuvenated I walked out, feeling optimistic for the first time in a while. I had my family back! However Edward's pained face had broken my heart. Over the years I had learned to bury every feeling of pain into a dark box in the back of my head. I had gotten much better at hiding the pain and it was obvious that Edward had not gotten past that stage which is what confused me. _Why isn't he happy? And why does he have my book? He CANNOT be heartbroken over me! Who would be? I was so…nothing compared to him. Besides he left me. He didn't want me. _Realizing quickly the pain that I was about to feel I buried them in my box and headed to my bedroom. I found Alice sprawled out on the floor, reading one of the magazines I had bought at the airport.

"Hey Alice," I said cheerfully.

"Oh hey Claire!" she exclaimed putting the magazine back and stood up in one quick graceful movement. "Just looking at the juicy gossip sections!" she exclaimed with a smile. I sat down on my bed and lied on my stomach so that we could talk.

"I feel like I'm at a sleep over," I said laughing.

"I know me too! Oh, I know! Why don't we do each other's nails and talk about stuff. I've seen all the humans do it. I've never really had a sleep over except with this girl but I had to hold her there against her will so it wasn't fun,' she said with a little pout.

"Oh, really?" I asked, faking curiosity. I _still_ remembered that. **(A/N I know that's from Eclipse but please pretend it happened in the beginning of NM. Ok…moving on) **

"Oh my god, this girl really hated makeovers and shopping, which is crazy, but yeah…good times…" she said, lost in our memories.

"Sure sounds like it," I said, breaking her trance. "So do you want to do toenails or fingernails first?" I said with a laugh. I had been deprived of Alice and girl chatter for decades I actually enjoyed every second of it.

We were lying down on my bed, our freshly pedicured feet dangling off the foot and us using our vampire powers to dry our nails. We were laughing, seeing each other's faces. It was so good to have Alice back. When our hands and feet were done we collapsed on my bed.

"Well that was fun," I said tiredly, yawning.

"Yeah, now you have to get some sleep," Alice said.

"Not yet! Can we talk for a little bit first?"

"Ok!" Alice jumped up in joy and sat at the edge of my bed while we talked.

"So how did Liz end up in you family?" I asked curious.

"Well…about three weeks ago, while Edward and I were hunting, we found her in the forest, just turned and alone and confused. We took her back with us because we couldn't risk her killing people and getting in trouble with the Volturi, so she joined our family. It's still kinda weird though, she doesn't seem to like anyone except Edward, oh my god! She always clings to him, I feel sorry for him. Poor guy, he still never got over Bella."

"Bella? Wasn't she a human?" I asked, just to keep the conversation going.

"Yes, he really loved her. It was really hard not to love Bella, she was so sweet and selfless. Anyways she got in trouble with a tracker named James and was almost killed. Edward was able to save her but I don't think Edward ever recovered. He was always so protective over her. He would do anything for her, even if it meant moving away to make sure she was safe, it destroyed him Claire," she explained.

"What do you mean?" I asked with real curiosity.

"He couldn't stand being away from Bella, the first decade was, unbearable. First, after he left her he was a mess. Emmett had to bring blood to him in a vial to keep him alive," she explained, her tone very sad.

"Oh my god…" I trailed off. _All of that for me?_

"Then, when he found out that she…died…he-our whole family was filled with grief. Even Rosalie cried. But that pushed Edward off of the edge. The past three decades were unbearable to an extent you can't even imagine. He refused to drink the blood and we had to force it down his throat. Also, he kept trying to kill himself by escaping to the Volturi. If I didn't have my power we could of lost him…it was just this pass decade that he finally was beginning to accept that she's gone. Even though he doesn't play his music anymore and he still holds on to her copy of _Wuthering Heights,_ I feel like he may be just beginning to recover,' she finished solemnly.

Tears were beginning to form on my eyes and I said goodnight to Alice. As soon as she was gone, I cried myself to sleep.

**Reply if you have a heart. **


	3. Chapter 2: Conversations

**Hey guys! Thank you for all of the reviews! You guys are amazing, I guess that 'have a heart' thing really worked huh? Anyway here's chapter 3. It's probably not as well written as the first one but that's my opinion. Just a reminder: Bella's only supposed to have the power of invisibility. They can't know that she can transform. Enjoy! And PLEASE reply!**

Chapter 3- Conversations

**EPOV**

It was maddening, not being able to read Claire's thoughts. Not only because of the frustration, but also because of the reminder of Bella. It was bad enough that this girl sounded and smelled like her, but blushing, mind blocking? Did god really hate me that much? _At least she's not clumsy…_ I thought to myself. _That would have been unbearable._ I sat in my room, staring out at the mountains, thinking. _Who is this girl who made my already hellish life even more unbearable? _My thoughts were interrupted by a loud _bang. _I turned to see that Liz had slammed my door against the wall and was running, towards me. _Oh no…_I waited until the last possible second to move, so that she missed me by inches. I had to find another hiding spot from her, somewhere to think. I bolted up of the room and held it close for as long as I could, planning on my escape.

Liz was on the other side of the door, pounding on it.

"You can't hide from me forever Eddie!" she called in her obnoxious annoying, high pitched voice.

_Wanna bet?_ I thought in my head. I gave the door one final push and ran at full speed up the stairs. I turned down our guest hallways. We never used these because they came with beds and we rarely traveled down here. I smiled. _Liz would never find me here…_I turned into a random bedroom and slammed the door behind me quietly, so Liz would not hear. I sighed and sunk to the floor, observing my surroundings. It was probably one of our most elaborate guest rooms. The walls and the furniture all were engraved and painted over with white and golden paint.

"Edward…you don't want me?" a voice pleaded.

I nearly jumped up in surprise. I turned to see a figure in the bed, sleeping. Claire. She must be talking in her sleep. _What the heck? What is she talking about? And why can't I read her mind? _Puzzled, I forgot all about Liz and moved closer towards the girl. She really was beautiful, whoever she was. I didn't have a chance to clearly look at her because her Bella-ness had overwhelmed me, and it still was. Her smell hit me like a tidal wave, as I got closer to her. It reminded me so much of her! My mind was telling me to run but pure curiosity took over as my feet got closer and closer to her. The sun pouring through the window hit her skin, making her sparkle. Her silky strawberry blonde hair lay across her head. _Oh god, her shampoo even smells like Bella's! _Her strange aqua eyes remained closed as mumbled something about it being too white. I almost chuckled at this. The reminder of Bella was very painful and so wonderful at the same time.

"Edward, don't go please Edward!" she almost screamed in her sleep. This was too much for me. I bolted out of the room, forgetting all about Liz. _Who was this girl, and why does she remind me so much of Bella? _As I was running, I promised myself this; I was going to find out more about this strange girl.

**BPOV**

I was having that horrible nightmare again, the one where Edward left me. I saw myself, collapsed on the ground. I was vaguely aware of my screaming and I finally was able to wake myself up. My eyes shot open. I sat up and looked at my surroundings, confusion washed over me for a moment before I plopped back down on my bed. The light poured in from the windows, making my sweaty skin glitter. I sighed and got up to take a shower. After I was done I found Alice waiting for me.

"Oh, morning Claire!" she said jubilantly.

"Hey Alice, what up?" I said casually.

"Well…we're going shopping!" she exclaimed, grabbing my hand. Before I knew it I was being dragged down the stairs.

"Alice no!" I whined.

"Oh stop complaining! I haven't gone shopping in a week! Let's go," she said hurriedly, still dragging my hand.

"Alice, _please!"_ I begged.

"Ugh!" she said letting out an exasperated sigh. "You sound just like Bella!"

_Oh, that's not good…_

"Alright fine, but only for a few hours. None of this all day stuff okay?" I caved in.

A bright smile lit across her face.

"Oh, I knew you would give in Claire, now come on, Rosalie and the guys are waiting!" She said and pulled me with renewed strength towards the door. She opened the door and the sun's reflection off the snow blinded me momentarily. She pulled me around the corner to the garage. Her car, a Boxster S Porsche in metallic silver was parked outside, ready to go. _Looks like Alice finally got her Porsche…_ I saw Emmett and Rosalie were leaning against the car, arguing about something. I saw Rosalie smack Emmett in the back of the head before smiling at us. I smiled back at them and waved. As I turned around the last bend of the corner, I saw that Emmett and Rosalie weren't the only one's there. Edward was leaning against the hood of the car. He was looking down and was clearly unhappy with the situation. I didn't blame him; I would rather be anywhere but here too.

"Hey guys, ready to go?" Alice asked excitedly.

"Yeah sure," Rosalie said, equally excited. As they started to walk towards the car I realized that there wasn't going to be enough seats. As if reading my mind Alice exclaimed, "Oh, crude! I totally forgot that there isn't enough seats!"

"Why don't I sacrifice my seat?" Emmett said casually. "You girls and Edward go ahead, I'll just stay here with-"

"Oh no you don't!" Rosalie exclaimed, dragging him to the car and pushing him in.

Edward still didn't look up. He just remained where he was. _He's probably thinking of how to get out of this, lucky. _

"Oh I know!" Alice exclaimed jumping up and down. "Why don't you and Edward go together in your car?"

"What?!" both Edward and I demanded at the same time. Edward was looking at me now, his eyes full of pain and confusion. I turned away, knowing the tears would come if I held eye contact anymore.

"You heard me, you and Edward can go together and we'll meet you there," Alice explained. _Oh crap…there's going to be no way of getting out of this one. _"Okay?" Alice asked.

"Yeah, sure," I replied silently. Edward simply nodded and Alice jumped in glee. The others got in Alice's car while Edward and I awkwardly walked over to my car. I silently got into the drivers seat and Edward climbed into the passengers seat, not looking at me. I just realized that I had no idea where the mall was, and really didn't want to have to talk to Edward any more than I could handle.

"Um…Edward, do you want to drive, because I have no idea where we're going," I asked quietly, daring to look at him.

"Sure," he replied, never once turning his head towards me.

I got out of the car awkwardly. I stepped out of the car onto the black pavement and started walking hurriedly to the other car door. In my haste I stepped on a huge patch of ice and slipped. Right before feeling the hard ground on my butt, I felt two strong cold arms against my skin. I turned around to see Edward, looking at me, the way he did 50 years ago. Blushing a deep red I muttered a thanks and quickly climbed into the passengers side. _Why the heck did I slip? Vampires don't do that! _ I stared out my window and prepared for the torture ahead.

**EPOV **

_How did I get in this mess? _I thought as I leaned against Alice's car, fully aware of Claire's presence just a few feet away. Alice just said that she knew how to get away from Liz. And me, being totally moronic, trusted her. Now here I was, going to a _mall, _with _Claire_. _Stupid Alice, I'm going to kill her. Why didn't she tell me she was going to bring her? _I finally snapped out of my trance long enough to say she wanted Claire and I to go together, in her car, alone. _That's not happening. _

"What?!" Claire and I exclaimed. I got a quick glance at her. She didn't seem to be happy about going to the mall at all.

"_Please Edward?" _Alice pleaded in my head. _"I really need this trip, also I had a vision about you two and-"_ I shot her a warning look and she quickly changed the subject.

"You heard me, you and Edward can go together and we'll meet you there," Alice explained. _Urg! Dam Alice, DAM HER! I can't not accept, that would hurt the girl's feelings… _I gave a nod and walked to Claire's car. _What am I going to do? This girl is driving me crazy! But maybe I'll get to know I little more about her…_I got into the passengers side, still thinking.

"Um…Edward, do you want to drive, because I have no idea where we're going," Claire's Bella-like voice asked, snapping my out of my thoughts.

"Sure," I replied absentmindedly. I got out of the car, walking to the other side. Suddenly I saw Claire start to fall. Out of a reflex from Bella I was instantly at her side, saving her from a bruise. For an instant the craziest thing happened. I thought Claire was my Bella, and my eyes betrayed me, giving her a look meant only for Bella. I thought I heard her mutter 'thanks', but I wasn't paying attention. My mind was racing. _How could you? You can only give Bella that look, not this silly little vampire girl! Why did you do that you soulless monster? But why is this girl so like my Bella? She talks in her sleep, she blushes, she even sounds and smells like her! Does god really hate me that much that he would send someone to remind me of what I so stupidly lost 50 years ago. My Bella… _My eyes were on the road ahead of me, but my mind was gone. I wasn't even headed in the direction of the mall anymore. I quickly snapped out of it and took a glance at Claire.

She was staring out of her window, nervously biting her lip. She seemed to be blocking her face with her honey cooled hair, sending a blast of her floral aroma every time her hair swayed. It was so frustrating, not being able to read her thoughts. I couldn't see her face either, so I had no idea what she was thinking. _Well say something idiot, or else she's going to think you hate her._

"So," I started casually. "I guess you were tricked by Alice into coming to the mall too huh?" I said, desperately trying to break the silence.

She turned to me, her eyes looked sad for a moment before erasing it away with a brilliant, Bella smile.

"More like attack…"she trailed off, laughing a little.

I chuckled too.

"Welcome to the Cullen family," I said with a grin on my face. _Did I just smile and laugh for the first time in 50 years? _"I'm sorry for my behavior yesterday, I probably wasn't the most polite," I said sincerely.

"It's ok, Alice told me you were going through some stuff…" she trailed off and looked away from me again. "I'm sorry about your loss Edward," she muttered quietly, still never looking at me. I thought for a moment that she was crying because I smelt salt water, but then it was gone and I brushed it off.

"Thank you," I replied back solemnly, never letting my thoughts linger on Bella. Silence took over the car. After a few moments I asked, "So I heard you playing the piano before. You play very well. Did you compose that piece?"

She turned her face towards me and blushed.

"Yeah I did, and thanks," she said blushing again. "I hear you play also," she said.

"Well I used to, but I haven't in a very long time…" I trailed off.

"Oh, I'm sorry I forgot," she apologized. Her face looked like it was in pain as well. Tears started to form at her eyes before she turned away from me.

"Why are you crying?" I asked, looking at her.

"It's nothing really, it's just that I'm going through some stuff too," she replied, her voice cracking in some parts. It was really painful to see this girl cry. I don't know why but it didn't seem right that someone so Bella-like was in pain.

"What happened?" I asked, sincerely wanting to know.

I saw panic wash across her face before she amazingly pushed her tears aside and recomposed herself.

"Nothing…I'm-I'm fine," she stuttered, taking a deep, unnecessary breath. She looked at the road. "Are we still even going to the mall?" she asked with a smile on her face.

"Want to ditch Alice?" I said, giving her a smile in return.

"You read my mind," she said with a laugh.

I smiled at her, taking a right off the highway. "You know I really can't read your mind," I said.

"I'm not surprised…I have that affect on some vampires," she replied simply.

"Ah…that would explain it. So, do you have a power?" I asked curiously, turning to face her.

"Yeah, I can turn invisible," she replied. "Watch," she said with a mischievous smile. "Now you see me…" she turned towards me, and slowly she disappeared into the black leather of the car. "Now you don't," her voice said next to me.

"Sweet power," I said smiling.

"I guess it comes in handy sometimes," she said reappearing next to me. "So…where are we going?"

"Honestly, I have no idea," I replied back. _How did it get so easy to talk to her? Just a couple minutes ago we had nothing to say to each other. _

She laughed, a sweet bell laugh, and it was at that moment I found the one thing I feared the most. Someone that had the power to replace my Bella.

**Okay, there it is, hope you guys liked it! PLEASE REVIEW!! **

**Dazzledbyu88**


	4. Chapter 3: First Day

**Hey people!! Okay, here's chapter 3! Thank you for all the wonderful replies I got!!! You guys rock! Anyways, in this chapter there's more Edward/Claire interaction, and unfortunately more Claire and Liz interaction. Sorry, but it's necessary! Enjoy, and PLEASE review!!!! **

Chapter 3: First Day

**BPOV**

_How could I be so stupid! _I thought angrily as I plopped down on my bed. We had just gotten back from ditching Alice. _You know better then to act like yourself! Oh, what am I going to do? If they find out it's me…_

"Argh!" I roared, thrashing on my bed. _Ok, calm down. Just act like Claire from now on. Do not act like Bella._ "Oh what am I going to do?" I mumbled to myself. Being with Edward felt so…right. I felt happy again, for the first time in 50 years! The only problem was that I acted too much like myself. I couldn't help it. One minute I was terrified, and the next I was laughing like my old self again. Realization suddenly hit me like a tidal wave. I had to stay away from Edward.

**EPOV**

_How could I let this happen?! _ I thought, sitting exasperated against by bedroom wall. _How could I let myself even think about feeling this way again!? I hardly even know this girl! _I let out a huge exasperated sigh. It was so easy, being with Claire. I felt like I could be myself again, which is why she scared the hell out of me. I had only had one conversation with her and already I was starting to _feel_ again. I couldn't let that happen. Only Bella was allowed to make me feel this way. I had to stay away from Claire.

**BPOV**

The sun was long gone when Alice, Rosalie, and Emmett finally came home. Alice, who I thought would be fuming, was actually not mad at all at Edward or myself for ditching. She was actually happy, displaying a knowing smile on her perfect face. Knowing her she probably had seen a vision of Edward and talking and laughing. _Oh god…If Alice tries to play matchmaker I'm done for…_ Luckily she pretended like she had no idea what Edward and I had done while we ditched her. Since Esme, Carlisle, and _Liz_ had gone hunting so we had the house all to ourselves. Alice, while at the mall had gotten me some clothes for school, which started tomorrow. I had to admit I was actually excited about college. I had never gone to one before and was looking forward to it. It would also give me something to think about, along with my mission other than Edward. _Oh my god! My mission! I totally forgot! I don't even know what Liz's power is yet! _I decided to invite Alice to another 'sleep over' so that we could have more 'girl talk' and I could find out more about Liz. When I got up to my room I found Alice waiting for me, already knowing about our 'sleep over.'

"Oh Claire!" she said jubilantly, jumping off from my bed to embrace me.

"I'm _so_ happy about you and Edward!" she exclaimed.

"What?" I exclaimed, my voice reaching several octaves higher than usual.

"Oh don't play dumb Claire!" Alice exclaimed, pulling me over to the bed and sitting me down. " I had a vision about you two, looks like you guys really hit it off, I haven't seen him so full of life since Bella!"

"Alice, it's not like that, really, and even if…never mind…" I trailed off.

"Even if?" Alice pushed, giving me a mischievous smile. I knew that look. She was planning something.

"Don't even think about it Alice Cullen!" I threatened, trying my best to look threatening.

She laughed at my attempt and soon her mirth spread to me and I started to smile too.

"Your face!" she exclaimed between laughter.

"Oh come on! Like you could do better!" I exclaimed.

After we had finished our laughing fit I got ready for bed, even though I didn't really need to sleep, and rejoined Alice. being very non-Bella like I chatted with her about clothing and designers before finally getting to my main topic.

"Does Liz have any powers?" I asked casually.

"Yes," Alice answered, suddenly becoming dark. "She has the ability to take away your powers, and your vampire abilities. Then she somehow sucks your energy out of you," Alice answered, looking away from me.

"Wow…"I trailed off. This girl could really be dangerous.

"Has she ever, taken away yours?" I asked curious.

"Yes, once, when she joined out family. She claimed it was an accident but…" Alice trailed off.

"But what?" I pressed.

"I knew it wasn't. We were arguing, I wanted Edward to get out of the house, to come hunting with us. Get his mind off of her for a little bit, and she well…" Alice sighed. "She wanted him to stay with her. I told her that he needed to get out of the house and then she used her power on me," Alice said darkly. Her face had lost all of its merriment. "It was terrible Claire, I felt so _weak_. I couldn't even stand and I crumpled to the ground. Eventually I felt so weak I couldn't even keep my eyes open and I thought I was going to die," Alice said, her face was so, un-Alice like, that if she could cry, she would be.

"Oh Alice…" I said pulling her into a hug. "I'm so sorry, have you ever told anyone about this?"

"No, I knew if I told anyone they would try to confront her and then they'd get hurt so…" she said, her voice cracking. "Claire, you have to promise me that you won't confront her okay? Please, for me?" she asked, her golden eyes pleading.

"Okay, I promise," I said, knowing all to well that it would have to be broken sooner or later.

After Alice had gone to spend the rest of the early morning with Jasper, I decided it was time to write to Aro. I grabbed a piece of paper, a pen, and with my messy handwriting wrote:

Dear Aro,

First off, you are in BIG trouble when I get back! The Cullen's!? I mean what were you thinking!? You are SO dead! ARGH!!! Be VERY afraid when I get back…Anyways, I got some info on the new vampire. Her name's Elizabeth, Liz for short. She looks a lot like the human me, and she's extremely powerful, and annoying. The Cullen's found her in the woods, alone, and took her in. Her power is to take away any of you abilities, your vampire abilities, and drain your energy or something. Aro, I'm afraid this is going to be a lot harder than we thought. This girl seems dangerous, she already attacked Alice Cullen. I don't want to have to take her while she's still considered a Cullen. We don't need them as enemies. I don't think her energy power thing will affect me, so I'll keep a close eye on her, I mean I don't want to kill her. If I can get her to leave the family, than the Cullen's would have no reason to attack. I'll give this girl another chance, if she proves herself to be a threat, then I would be left with no other choice than to take her out. I promise to stay safe so don't worry about me, I can take care of myself now.

Love,

Bella

I deposited the letter in the envelope, and seal it shut with the Volturi seal. I quickly ran out to the mailbox and dropped it in, making sure no one could see me. Then I quickly ran back into the house. The sun was just starting to rise and it was my first day of college! I ran back into the house and jumped in the shower. When I got out I found a pair of very stylish, and very expensive clothes waiting for me. I smiled to myself knowing Alice had probably put them there for me. I quickly got dressed and headed down stairs for breakfast. It had been far too long before I ate or hunted. Esme had gone shopping the day I arrived, and I quickly hunted down a bowl, cereal, milk, and a spoon. Mid-way through my Special K strawberry cereal Liz decided to 'grace' me with her presence. She quietly stepped into the room and sat across from me, scrutinizing me.

"_Ew, _what are you doing?" she asked appalled.

"I'm eating," I snapped back at her, meeting her golden eyes for the first time.

"Whatever," she said rolling her eyes at me. "So…I hear that you and _my _Edward had a little conversation yesterday. _After _I already warned you to stay away from my boyfriend," she said menacingly.

"_Your _boyfriend?!" I laughed, almost choking on my cereal. _"You _have got to be kidding me!" I exclaimed. "I mean you and Edward! Maybe in your own little fantasy world but-"

"Shut up you stupid girl! You're just jealous that Edward is mine! Laugh all you want, it's true," she said mockingly towards me. "Besides, you're in no position to be laughing at me, in fact _I _am the one who should be laughing at you. I mean look at you! Your hair looks like straw, your unnatural skin tone and your eyes make you look _human,_" she explained, saying the word human with disdain. "You disgust me," she spat out. "And if I ever see your ugly little figure next to _my _Edward again, I might just lose control on my power, and we don't want that to happen now do we?" she said, teasing me before quickly prancing off. If I could I would of puked in my cereal but I couldn't. _Who does that witch think she is!? I mean how dare she! _I quickly threw out my half eaten cereal, with my appetite long gone.

Still bitter from my experience with Liz, I slammed my car door getting in. Luckily I would be the only one in the car today. I took an extra ten minutes driving at vampire speed. _Argh! The nerve of that brat! No way would Edward ever let that evil little witch be his girlfriend!!_ I was still in the process I refraining from killing Liz. I wanted to kill her _so _bad right now it took all of my self-control to remain calm. As much as I was angry with her, I was also afraid. My power only blocked mental powers, not physical one's. If she did decide to use her power on me, I would not get weak but I would lose my vampire powers. Meaning I would be Bella Swan again. I shuddered at the thought of having the Cullen's find out who I really was. Especially my angel. If Edward ever found out that I was still alive…I didn't think my heart would be able to handle if he rejected me again. Even if he did take me back, it was only a matter of time before he left me again. After I had calmed down I headed off to campus. As I pulled into the parking lot I saw the University for the first time. It was huge! Almost the size of the Volturi castle back home. There were humans everywhere, some were studying, so lay sprawled out on the snow, and others were talking to each other in small groups. A slight wave of panic washed through me. I was the 'new girl,' basically meaning a golden ticket to the attention of which I loathed. It was like Forks High all over again except this time, I would get even more attention. First for my looks, second for my relationship with the mysterious Cullen's. I looked around and was relieved that none of them had arrived already. I took a deep breath, wishing so badly to become invisible or morph into a small tree, something that no one would want to or couldn't look at. I took a step out of my conspicuous car and realized that people were already staring at me. _And so it begins…_ I thought to myself as I walked to my first class.

Schedule of Miss Clarice Haynes

9:00 am- 10 am- Advanced Biology

10:10am- 11:30am – Advanced Chemistry

12:15 pm-1:00- Biochemistry

1:05 pm- 2:00 pm- Genetics

2:15 pm- 3:15- Advanced Physics

**(A/N- Okay, I'm only in seventh grade so I have NO idea how college schedules work, and I'm sure that this is really short and probably missing so stuff. But sorry! Anyway you get the picture that 'Claire' is brilliant and that her major is medical or whatever. Sorry for the interruption!)**

I walked with my head down, avoiding eye contact to my first class, Biology. I was majoring in pre-med, although I probably knew more about the human body than most of the humans here. At first I was afraid of the risk of exposure from taking a class that evolved a lot of blood, but since I could eat, I figured I would be okay. However I always brought a snack with me just in case. When I was in Italy, although I had not attended school, I had studied the books in the castle and had become quite knowledge able at a lot of things. I finally made it to my first class after what seemed like endless human minutes of staring, whispering, and gossiping as I walked. I let out a huge sigh of relief when I got to advanced biology. There wouldn't be a lot of kids in this class. Also, no vampires except me of course. After all, they didn't have my human qualities and would not be able to resist the urge as much as I could. Or at least that's what I thought when I walked in to see Edward Cullen, sitting next the only available seat.

**EPOV**

I thought my dead heart nearly leapt of my chest when she walked in. It wasn't fair that she had this kind of effect on me. I had just one short conversation with her and already I felt like I knew her. It was insane! I wanted to hate this girl so much for making me feel this way again, but I couldn't. No matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't bring myself to hate her. So, I concluded that my strategy was to stay away from her, but as she walked in, her floral scent hitting me hard, I knew that would be impossible as well. I dared to look at her. She seemed…confused. Her little golden brow wrinkled in confusion and I realized how ridiculous I was being, and quickly turned away. To my horror I realized that I was sitting next to the only available seat. With my vampire hearing I was able to hear a moan and then heavy footsteps as she came and sat down next to me. She wielded her perfect head around and looked at me intensely with her piercing blue eyes. _Why was I noticing these things! _I thought angrily to myself.

"What are you doing here?" she demanded, still holding my gaze.

"Posing as a student, why?" I asked casually.

"Well, I know that! I mean what are you doing in _this _class. It's advanced biology, you know, dissecting, and let's see…" she said, pausing for a moment and pretending to ponder something hard. "Oh yeah, blood," she said still looking at me.

"You shouldn't be in this class, it's too dangerous."

I laughed at this. Little did she know that had spent the past fifty years in a black hole and something as simple as blood could no longer tempt me.

"Blood is not strong enough to tempt me anymore," I stated.

"Oh, ok," she said, losing her previous anger. "So…" she said, breaking eye contact. "How many times have you been to college," she said, fiddling with her pencil now.

"I think that this is only my 5th," I said, casually. I've never really been interested in college. Too many people, too many questions about my age, and just too much attention.

"Oh, wow, so you're still pretty new at this then?" she asked, looking at me, her beautiful blue eyes shining with curiosity.

"I guess," I replied leaning back in m chair.

"I have to admit, I'm a little nervous. I've never been to college. While in Volterra, I spent most of my time, trying to forget my human life, by keeping myself busy. I guess college was never a possibility for me until now," she explained, her voice turning dark, her eyes displaying the pain of a wound from half a century ago. Suddenly I felt a great urge to hold her, to comfort her. Nothing mattered, except that Claire was in pain.

"Claire, I'm so sorry. Whoever did this to you must be the dumbest creature to ever walk this earth. Do you want to tell me what happened?" I asked, resisting the incredible urge to hold her. What was wrong with me?

"No, it's okay. You probably don't want to hear about my sob story anyway. And as for the guy that did this, he's really not that bad…" she trailed off.

I was about to ask her about how this guy could ever be 'not that bad' after doing this to her when our teacher, Mrs. Belden started class. Claire's perfect head turned away fro me, and I knew I had lost my opportunity.

**Okay, there you have it. Poor Eddie's confused and evil Liz is delusional. Review if you have a heart and I promise to post the next chapter soon! **


	5. Chapter 4: Snow Day

**Hey guys! Thank you for all of my reviews:D Anyways, I'm sorry I haven't posted in a while but I had winter break so I was doing stuff. I mean, I can't sit on my computer and write 24/7, lol. But anyway, here's chapter four. Just a reminder, cause some people were getting confused, Bella can only block mental powers. Enjoy and PLEASE review!!!**

Chapter 4: Snow Day

**BPOV **

I had to focus all of my attention on Mrs. Belden to keep my thoughts away from my angel, who was sitting besides me. Liz, in a way was right. I had to stay away from Edward. That was the only way to keep myself from the hurt. However when I walked in, and I saw him there, I forgot everything. I tried desperately to not be myself when I was with him but I lost the battle in the end. It was so confusing though! He was acting like he actually cared about me, about Claire. And he was grieving _my _loss! The silly little, klutzy human girl that he left to 'protect.' Didn't he know that I could barely _exist_ without him? When the class finally ended I quickly gathered my things and beat Edward out the door. I wanted to get lost in the crowded hallway of students, any attention would be better than Edward's complicated conversations that always seemed to reopen wounds. I wanted to get away from him and forget about what used to be. It was too risky to turn invisible when so many people could see so I plunged into the hall of students, for once wanting to be surrounded by people so that Edward wouldn't notice me. Soon enough three girls came over to me and introduced themselves. One was a blonde, with brown eyes and brown highlights, the other was a brunette with big blue doe-like eyes, and the last was a red head with sparkling green eyes. They were all quite beautiful, for humans, that is. They looked like the kind of girls that cared more about their clothes and their makeup than anything else, but I was desperate so I started conversation.

"Hey!" They squealed coming towards me. "You're new here right?"

"Yes, I moved here from Italy only two days ago,' I explained pleasantly, and secretly checking to make sure Edward wasn't anywhere near by.

"OMG!" The blonde exclaimed. "Italy! As in Europe? That is SO cool!" she cried out, more enthusiastically than Alice. _What is she on?_

"Oh my god I know!" the red head chimed in. "How was the shopping?" She asked, her eyes shining with excitement. _Why not indulge in their fantasy world? _I thought to myself. _After all, you're not Bella anymore…_

"You guys you guys, settle down!" the brunette exclaimed. "You're scaring the poor girl!" she said, before turning and flashing a pleasant smile at me. "Sorry about them, they get a little overexcited sometimes, anyway, I'm Amber Brown," she said warmly.

"Nice to meet you Amber," I replied politely.

She smiled. "This," she said motioning to the redhead, "is Stephanie West, and this is Amy Carver," she said, pointing to the blonde.

"Nice to meet you all," I said with sincerity. "I'm Claire Haynes," I said with a smile.

"Claire where are you going now?" Amber asked me.

"Umm…Advanced Chemistry. Where are you guys going?"

I saw a shocked expression on all of their faces.

"Advanced Chem.!" Stephanie exclaimed, "That's for like, really smart people! What year are you?"

"A freshman, why?" I asked curious.

"Wow…" Amber, Stephanie, and Amy chimed in. "That's amazing!"

"Well…I guess, but anyways I really have to get to class, but hopefully I'll see you guys again!" I exclaimed, walking away, from their stunned faces. I smiled silently to myself, and headed off to class. The girls had seamed nice, although Stephanie and Amy seemed a little well…shallow. But Amber seamed very nice, and I hoped I had another class with her. My next class was Advanced Chemistry. I silently prayed to god that Edward or Liz wasn't in my next class. My prayers were answered and I let out a huge sigh of relief when I found no one in my next class that I knew. I silently got in my seat and idly waited for class to start. I was doodling in my notebook when I heard the sound of the empty seat next to me, scratch on the ground. I smelt human immediately, and looked up to see a young man. He had short brunette hair that looked slightly tousled. His features were surprisingly perfect, for a human, and a warm smile lit across his face. Sensing my eyes on him, he turned and flashed a smile at me.

"Hi, I'm Brian Sullivan," he said, turning towards me. "You're new here right?"

"Yeah, I just moved here from Italy just two days ago," I explained.

"Italy!" he exclaimed, his face lighting up. "I'm from Italy too. Where did you live?"

"In Tuscany," I lied. Somewhere, a long time ago class started, but I paid no attention and neither did Brian.

"Really? I've always wanted to go there. I'm from Venice," he said, smiling at me again. "Parlate italiano (Do you speak Italian?)?" he asked.

"Naturalmente (Of course), " I replied casually, dazzling him slightly. I liked this guy, he seamed so…warm.

He smiled at me again and turned away, blushing slightly. It was then he finally realized that class had started and turned away from me. I chuckled and prepared to endure the wonderful world of Advanced Chemistry, in which I already knew, could never be more complex than the world of which I lived in and knew so well.

**EPOV**

As soon as class started, I thought I had been sentenced to my own personal hell. We were seated by a window and the breeze from it seemed to taunt me with Claire's intoxicating smell. And not in the blood lust way but just plain stinking lust. _Why!?_ I thought angrily. _Why did I feel this way about her? Why do I have this urge to be close to her? Why does she remind me so much of my Bella? Oh, Bella… I'm so sorry. _I hung my head in shame and stared out the window. Forgetting all about class my thought drifted back to Claire. She was such a puzzle, one second she seams mad at me, and the next unbelievably sad. Almost like something had died inside of her. And then of course, there was her Bella-like quality. Sometimes, I almost hated her. _Almost _hated her for making me feel this way, and for reminding me a Bella in this painful way. I took a quick glance at her. Her brow was frowned in frustration as she seamed to be concentrating incredibly hard on something. I turned my attention back to the window and before I knew it, class was over, and I was the last student to leave the room. I decided to skip the rest of my classes that day, and drive home. I needed some time to think, and let myself be reminded of Bella. When I got home I sulked to my room. I had done this man times before in the past and Esme was not surprised to see me home early, but concern was etched in her face.

"_Oh, Edward! I thought you were over this…" _her thoughts told me.

"I'm alright Esme, I just need some time to myself. Please keep Liz away from me," I pleaded the last line.

She nodded and I headed up to my room. Once there, I closed it, and locked it, even though it would be no use. Then I collapsed onto my bed, and reached around for Bella's book. Once I had it, I gently picked it up and began flipping through the pages. Grief and uncontrollable guilt hit me. It was my fault that the love of my existence had died. I had left her, I lied to her and told her I didn't love her. I hurt her, and now…she was gone…my beautiful Bella. I lied there, mourning my loss and beating myself up until the moon was out and the white light illuminated my room. My thoughts wandered off to Claire again. I found myself anxious to see her again, and wondering what she was doing right now. I was trying to put a word on the feelings I had about her, when realization hit me. I was in falling in love with her.

**BPOV**

The rest of the day went by quickly. I had no classes with any of the other Cullen's, especially Edward or Liz, thank god. However I was disappointed that Brian and I shared no other classes. He seamed like someone I could talk to. I saw Amber, Stephanie, and Amy during lunch and sat with them, pretending to listen to their gossip. I had made the mistake of a quick glance around the cafeteria and saw Edward staring at me. As soon as our eyes met we both turned our heads away, neither of us daring to look again. I had been well educated in the rest of my classes so it was hard for me to focus on anything but Edward Cullen. I couldn't get him out of my head! And it didn't help that in the one class that I actually _had_ to pay attention in, he sat next to me. Sometimes it was so hard, to resist the urge to run into his arms and cry, and hold him close. I sighed, knowing far too well that that would never happen. This mission was proving itself to be much more troublesome and difficult than I thought. I didn't know if my poor dead heart could hold out any longer with Edward so close. My drive home was a blur, and before I knew it, I was staring at the beautiful mansion. I too another sigh and headed to my room, really needing to be alone. As soon as I got there, I closed my door and collapsed on my bed. I had to think of a new strategy on how to deal with Edward. From what I saw was that I had four choices. 1: Stay away from him. _Well that worked out fantastically! _I thought sarcastically to myself. 2: Act like a bitch and make Edward hate me. _I could never hurt Edward though. _That was eliminated. 3: Run away. _No, I have a mission and I can't fail Aro. Especially if this Liz is as powerful as Alice described. _And option 4: Give in. I sighed. As much as I wanted to give in, and act myself around him, and to not fight the feelings I was having, it was too risky. I knew if I gave in I would act like Bella. Like _his _Bella. I lied on my bed until the moon came up, sleep never came to me. My options swirled around my head, taunting me. When I couldn't take it anymore, quickly got out of bed, and turned invisible. Silently I crept through the house, Edward's room wasn't hard to find, despite the endless rooms. Carefully not to avoid any breezes that might catch my scent, I quietly sneaked into his room. The lights were off and the moonlight through the windows surrounding his room was the only source of light. Not that I needed it to see. I made out his figure, lying on his bed. I slowly, and carefully made my way over to a chair that faced his bed, and sat down to observe him. He was lying on his stomach, his head buried on his pillow and his arms lay under the top of his head. Beside him lay my old copy of _Wuthering Heights_ and I saw able to make out painful dry sobs coming from him. I wanted to run to him, to sit next to him and comfort him, but I held myself back. And then he whispered one word, which made my dead heart stop.

"Claire."

I bolted out of his room, and didn't stop till I was safely back into my own. My decision was made. I was going to give in.

Apparently sometime last night we had had a snowstorm. I was too wrapped up in my thoughts so I was surprised when I woke up to see the ground covered in at least a foot of snow, and big flakes falling from the sky. I remained there, enjoying the snow from the inside, when Alice came running in.

"Claire!" she exclaimed. "Guess what?" she said, jumping up and don in excitement.

"What Alice?" I replied, trying to sound excited but wary. _This better not be one of her shopping trips again._

"Snow day!" she squealed, dancing around my room.

"Really?" I asked excited now. I really didn't feel like enduring hours of learning stuff I already knew.

"Yes silly! You wouldn't bet against me know would you?" she said, still prancing around my room. "Oh this is going to be so much fun! OMG! We should have a snowball fight! Oh, yes, I can see it! It's going to be great! I'm going to get the others, meet downstairs in five minute Claire!" she said, running out of my room at full vampire speed. _Same old Alice…_ I thought to myself. I smiled to myself, washed up and got dressed. I wore a long sleeve shirt with a knit hat, and a fashionable scarf Alice bought me. I put on my favorite pair of Levi jeans and a pair of Uggs. That really was all I needed, considering I could never get cold. Once I ready, I headed downstairs, I was actually a little excited. I mean, a snowball fight with vampires? It would be infinitely better than with humans. _Maybe I'll even get to nail Emmett in the face. _I thought darkly, and then laughed at the thought. Once I was downstairs I saw that Alice had gotten the whole family ready, and they were all waiting for me. Esme and Carlisle were together, as well as Jasper and Alice, and Emmett and Rose. I turned my head slightly to see Edward, a little further away from the rest of the family. He was leaning against the banister, with his head down. Suddenly, he lifted his head and our eyes met making my dead heart beat faster. And then, breaking our gaze came Liz. She was dressed the most flamboyantly out of all of us. She had a designer jacket, with high heel boots and a matching Burberry hat, gloves and scarf. _High heels? For a snowball fight? I mean, I know you have the grace of a vampire but still…_I thought to myself. Our eyes met, and she flashed me a fake smile, before running up to Edward and putting her arms around him.

"Hey Edward!" she squealed, in a girly way, snuggling against him.

I gagged at this and glanced at Alice, whose head was turned away.

"I missed you last night," Liz said flirtatiously at Edward. Trying to dazzle him.

I took a glance at Edward, his face was hard, and I could tell that he too was trying to hide disgust.

"Oh, I'm sorry Liz. I needed some time to myself last night," he replied curtly, and took a discreetly step further away from her. I chuckled in my head at this.

"Alright you guys, come on!" Alice exclaimed excitedly, breaking the awkwardness of the situation. She pulled Jaspers hand and ran outside to the forest surrounding the house. We all followed her at vampire speed and came to a clearing. The clearing reminded me of the meadow back in Forks. It was a perfect circle, and the dense forest around it hid us from any humans that might get too close. I was interrupted by my observations when Alice started declaring the rules and teams.

"Alright!" Alice exclaimed, getting our attention. "The only rule is that no powers are allowed. We wouldn't want to make it unfair for you Emmett," she said teasingly. "And since we have an uneven number of players, we're starting off every vampire for his or her self. You can form teams if you want," she declared.

"Alice!" Emmett whined. "I don't think that that's fair to us, I mean, I can't hit a girl!" Emmett complained.

"Oh, really?" Rosalie spoke up. Or are you just too chicken that I'm gonna whoop your butt?" Rosalie challenged.

"Okay Rose," Emmett said, putting his hands up in defeat. "Just remember that you brought the wrath of Emmett on yourself!" he exclaimed.

We all laughed at this, and Rosalie rolled her eyes.

"Okay, the fight starts in three, two, one go!" Alice exclaimed. I quickly began to form a wall around myself. At vampire speed I managed to create a whole fortress in less than a minute. I snowball whizzed over my head and I saw it had been Liz. She gave me a little wave and I glared back at her. Throwing a snowball at her direction, so fast, it was barley visible. I nailed her on the side of her head, and she turned around to give me a glare, and I imitated her wave back at her. I looked around. All of the couples had formed teams and were working together to chuck as much snow as they could at the other teams. At vampire speed, the snow was flying so fast that human eyes would only see a slight blur of white. To us though, it was a war zone. I heard cries of laughter and anger as the snowballs hit their marks. At one point I saw Rosalie turn against Emmett and pour snow down his back while it was turned. I laughed and quickly dodged another shot from Liz. I had prepared for that and quickly shot a round of snowballs at her, and enjoying her seething in anger. I gave her a fake smile and continued with my fight. However my attention was drawn back to her when I saw her crawling over to Edward. Edward, already probably reading her mind, dashed away and surprisingly came over to me.

"Mind if I join you?" he asked, His bronze hair was more tousled than usual and had a few flakes of snow in it. I managed to nod, and tried to pull myself out of his dazzling spell. I started to make snowballs and handed them to Edward while he through them.

"So what brings you over here?" I asked after a while.

"Well…if you haven't noticed Liz, seems to find pleasure following me everywhere and acting like an annoying little pest," he explained, still throwing snowballs at the other teams.

"Oh really?" I asked, still focusing on the creation of the little white spheres that were to be hurtled into the air. "I haven't noticed," I finished sarcastically. He laughed his musical laugh that I missed so much over the past years, and I wished I could make him laugh more.

"Well…anyway, I realized that she didn't particularly…favor you," he said wary, waiting for my reaction.

I laughed at that. "You can say that again," I flashed a smile at him, trying to dazzle him as much as I dared to.

He seamed to be taken back at that and paused for a moment before continuing.

"Well anyway…I figured, I'd be safe with you, from…her," he shuddered at the word 'her,' making me laugh. Even though I knew the meaning of his words I couldn't help but feel a tingling feeling shot through my body. _He felt safe around me…_ Were the only words running through my head.

"Don't worry Edward, you're safe with me."

**Okay, there it is! I hope you guys liked it! Review if you have a heart! **


	6. Chapter 5: Flights

**Okay guys here it is!! I'm so sorry it took so long for me to update. What happened was that I wrote a chapter, but then decided that it wasn't time for that yet, so I wrote this 'filler' chapter. It moves the plot along a little bit, but not that much. However it is important!! The story should move on quickly after this or the next chapter. I really don't want to write another 'filler' because the chapter that I wrote moves the plot along so much, but I don't want to rush this story. Please R&R!! And tell me if you have any 'filler' ideas just in case!! **

Chapter 5: Flights

**BPOV **

I groaned my alarm went off, almost breaking it when I went to turn it off. I opened my eyes and sighed, it was Friday, the last day of school this week. Any excitement I had for it the other day was gone. Most _normal _students would be ecstatic that it was a Friday, but for me, I always felt like it dragged out longer than necessary. I looked out the window, and saw nothing more but a dreary winter's day, which didn't lift my spirits at all. I took a shower, and got dressed before heading downstairs for breakfast. While eating, I was very cautious of another encounter with Liz, so I ate quickly. Alice, Edward, and Jasper were going hunting today, so that made my day even more depressing. I got in to my car and drove to school at human speed. There was no rush to get to school today. When I pulled in to the parking, I saw the three girls that I had met earlier. Amber, Stephanie, and Amy…I think… Anyways, they were waving to me, Stephanie, and Amy, were jumping up and down and giggling, before Amber calmed them down. I liked Amber; she seemed very…'real' and nice. I put a smile on my face and walked over to them.

"Hey Claire!" they all cried out. "We were hoping to catch you before school!"

"Well, you've got me," I said flashing a smile.

They laughed, and started talking about mindless gossip with me, while walking to our classes, but I wasn't paying attention. The only thing I seemed capable of thinking about was Edward Cullen.

_Why did college classes have to be so long and boring?_ I thought to myself as I was leaving Advanced Biology. I really was in no rush to get to my next class, the less time I had in that boring classroom listening to thing's I had read in books, not so long ago, the better. While in the hallways, I waved to Emmett, walked at human pace, and ignored the occasionally wolf whistle. _Silly humans…_ But despite my valiant attempt at arriving late, I was still early. I sighed, and stomped over to me seat and sat down, annoyed. I heard a chuckled and turned around to see Brian with a bemused expression on his face. Something was different about him, but I couldn't put my finger on it. I observed him for a second time and, much to my surprise, saw that he looked a lot like Edward. He was muscular, but not bulky, tall, and boyish.

"What are you laughing at?" I demanded, fighting a smile on my lips from his expression.

"I'm sorry Claire, It's just that, you looked so...I don't know… but the expression on your face, it was …cute," he admitted sheepishly at the end.

I laughed, finding it funny that he thought of me as 'cute.' The idea of a human boy referring to a vampire as cute was so…weird.

"Siete felici circa la neve?" he asked me. (Are you happy about the snow?)

"Sorprendentemente sì," I answered, turning towards him. (Surprisingly yes)

"Would you by any chance have met Lord Aro and Lady Isabella when you were in Tuscany? I was told that he had a country house there, and spends quite a deal of time there with his family," he asked. The question caught me off guard. I was vaguely aware that during my years of exile, the Volturi family had made themselves known in the world. In fact, I was certain that people considered Aro as royalty! And what was this Lady Isabella part? Why and how did Aro make myself Lady Isabella? I wouldn't know I didn't pay any attention to Aro's silly little royalty world when I had turned my back on the world.

"No, I'm afraid not," I answered hesitantly. "I've never seen the lord nor the lady, whom I had never heard of before, but I think I've seen his house a few times. A grand one it is, if I might add," I said, trying to bring the conversation to a different subject.

"Wow, you're so lucky! I've always admired Lord Aro, but I can't believe you've never heard of lady Isabella. Apparently she's the little sister of Lord Aro, and is known to be very beautiful. In Venice, she was known as 'the beauty of Italy…" he said, pondering it for a second. "I'm truly shocked that you have never heard of her. But anyways, I would love very much to see that house that you told me about."

_What kind of reputation did Aro have? People actually admired him? And what had Aro started about 'Lady Isabella?' And beauty? I've never been outside the castle for more than a couple of days, how could people possibly know of me?_

"Maybe you could show me sometime," Brian added, flashing a smile at me.

Feeling suddenly wary of his feeling towards me, I sent him a friendly smile and turned my attention back to the teacher. I was going to write Aro a very angry letter when I got home, and as for Brian, _How does he know so much? _And what was I going to do about it now? Also, I had to worry about his feelings towards me. I did _not_ need another Mike, and even though Brian Sullivan was intriguing, he was no Edward Cullen.

The rest of the day seemed to drag out even more after Advanced Chemistry. I couldn't wait to get home, or mostly, to see _him_ again. God, it wasn't fair that I was already so dependent of him. I mean sure I was going to let myself get closer to him, but I mean this was ridiculous, and dangerous to myself. If I became dependant of Edward again, and he left…I honestly didn't know if I could survive. I felt as if there was a giant hole in me, tearing me apart. On part of my wanted nothing more than to tell Edward who I really was, and risk the chance of him leaving again. But the other part of me was telling me to run. Run far, far away and never look back. And as if that wasn't enough of a problem, I had to find out about 'Lady Isabella.' I mean what was Aro thinking? How did I not know about this? And how do people know about me? I was sure no one had ever seen me.

At the end of advanced physics, I was nearly on the brink of vampire speed. I ran as fast as a human could allow, got in my car, and sped home. I was deeply disappointed to find that the others had not yet returned, and sulked to my room to write to Aro.

Dear Aro,

Okay, what is your problem? First you buy me a new car, then you surprise me with the Cullen's, and now you've made me a Lady Isabella? I mean seriously Aro, why? And how? As far as I know, no one has ever seen me outside of the castle walls! Brian, a human in one of my classes, told me about my reputation as the 'beauty of Italy,' I mean are you demented!? What if the Cullen's found out? You know I wouldn't be able to handle it if they found out about the real me. What were you thinking!?!?! Of all the stupid things to do… _and _you've exposed yourself too! Did you're pig headedness and arrogance finally reach into your stupid head? What happened to conspicuous, huh? Yeah, I thought so. Anyway, be glad that you're already dead Aro, you should BE VERY AFRAID when I come home.

B

P.s. Brian actually admires you, ha, as if!

P.S.S Address me as 'B' from now on just in case.

I nearly ripped the paper while writing the letter. I was so angry at Aro for doing that to me. I mean, he didn't even ask me about it. _Stupid, arrogant, pig headed vampire… _I thought to myself. I ran outside to mail it, then feeling the need to compose myself, took a shower. When I got out, Emmett called to me downstairs to see if I wanted to play a game. At first I was terrified at the idea of playing a 'game' with Emmett, but I figured it would help the time go by faster and even though I would never admit it, his games were kinda fun.

I got dressed into a pair of sweats, and let my long blonde cascade down to my waist. While heading down the stairs, Liz cut me off, tripping me, and making me land lat on my face. _Bitch! _

"Oh, sorry Claire!" she mocked at me, pretending to look innocent.

I snarled at her and stalked off. Emmett had decided to play a would you rather game. Rose and I sticked together on this one and both groaned.

"Emmett, I refuse to play that idiotic, childish game!" Rose snapped at her husband.

"Aw, come on Rose, lighten up! I bet Claire wants to play right?" he said, looking expectantly at me.

"No, not really," I answered back.

"Aw man, not you too!" Emmett whined.

"Oh, suck it up you two chickens and play the game!" Liz snapped. "Unless Rosalie has to fix her hair for the 100th time or Claire has to try to steal _my_ Edward from me!"

"What is your problem?" I demanded, rising up from my seat. I glanced at Rosalie to see that she too was fuming, but decided to remain next to Emmett, shooting looks at her.

"You!" Liz exclaimed back at me. "You stupid little brat!" she spat at me.

I felt my eyes turn pitch black with pure hate. I wanted to kill her so bad, right now, but I wasn't ready to do that yet. Killing her meant leaving everything. My family, and the love of my existence. I wasn't going to give that up just yet. But, that doesn't mean I couldn't mess with Liz in the meantime…

"Oh, _I'm_ the brat?" I screamed. "You're the brat! All you do is throw yourself at Edward, all the time. Isn't it clear that he doesn't like you," I exclaimed.

"Catfight…" Emmett whispered to Rosalie. Liz, Rosalie, and I instantly turned our heads to him and snapped, "Shut up Emmett!"

He put his hands up in defeat and backed away, smart move.

"You're just jealous!" Liz screamed at me. "You've wanted him for yourself ever since you invaded this family, and you've been trying to steal him from me ever since!"

"That's ridiculous!" I snorted. "First off, it's not like that with Edward, and second he's not even yours! I mean I knew that you were a little delusional, but this is crazy!"

Liz made a lunge for me, but Rosalie stopped her.

"Stop!" she screeched. "This is ridiculous! You two are acting no better than Emmett! Now apologize! Both of you!"  
"But-" Liz protested.

"NO BUTS!" Rosalie bellowed. "I'm so sick of the constant chaos around me and right now you two are not helping."

"I'm Sorry," I said quietly and glared away from her, tapping my foot slightly in annoyance.

"Whatever boyfriend stealer," Liz spat back at me.

"Liz!" Rosalie shrieked.

"Fine! Sorry _Claire_," she said, making my name sound like a curse word.

And at that, we both spun on our heels and stalked off to our rooms, slamming the door, and me, replacing my excitement with rage.

_Yes! No school today! _I thought happily to myself as I got out of bed. Besides the fact that it was Saturday, I was already in a good mood. Edward would be coming back, and although I couldn't get as close to him as I would like to, I would get to see his face again. Ever since I came back, I got anxious every time he wasn't within eyesight. I was so terrified that he would leave again, proving to myself just how dangerous this situation was to me. I couldn't let myself get too attached to Edward, without causing me pain when I had to leave and never see them again. I sighed and took a shower, trying to erase all the burdens that were on my shoulders.

After I had mental and physically prepared myself I headed down stairs to get something to eat. I saw that Esme had gone shopping again and I made myself some waffles. I was so happy that I could still eat human food. I think it would of broken my heart to turn down all of my favorite foods. When I had finished Edward and the others were still not home. Bored, with nothing to do and anticipation practically eating me up, I left the house. It's been a while since I used my _real_ shape shifting powers. I ran deep into the woods, making sure Liz hadn't followed me. As soon as I was sure I was alone, I stopped and pictured a blue jay, thinking of as much detail as I could. I felt my body get smaller and smaller as I shrank to the ground. The funny thing about transformation is that I still had all of my vampire enhancements. I could fly as fast as I could run, and my vision was still the same. I crouched down as low to the ground as I could, spread my wings out, and sprang off the ground into the air. There was no way to explain the ecstasy that washed over me as I soared higher into the sky. For one precious second, I forgot about everything. The mission, Liz, the situation with Edward, 'Lady Isabella,' and Claire. I felt like Bella again. The Bella that didn't get her heart broken when Edward left. And for a second, one tiny second, I felt whole again.

When I got back after a lengthy two hour trip, it was twilight. The time in between two completely different worlds, day and night, the human world, and mine. I slipped in through the back door quietly and found that the rest of my family had come home in my absence. They were all gathered around the TV, watching intently. Edward was there too. His golden eyes glued to the screen and his perfect face had concentration etched into it. I found it funny how such an old family, as theirs would still be interested in that. I tried my best to come into the house, without disturbing them but of course I managed to trip on the edge of one of the chair legs, causing it make a scratching sound against the floor, and making me more aquatinted with the cold marble floor. _Dam human qualities! _All eight beautiful heads (**Well seven beautiful heads, not counting Liz, haha take that!) **instantly turned towards my sprawled figure on the floor. I felt my cheeks warm up with color, as they all looked at me, surprised by the fall and amused at the same time. Liz was cracking up in a mocking way and Emmett and the others were all laughing in an affectionate way.

"Human abilities?" Alice questioned knowingly, adding a bell-like laugh at the end.

"Unfortunately yes," I answered, getting up. As I lifted my head off the ground, I saw a marble hand reached out to me. My eyes traveled up the hand to the arm and finally to the face of my angel. He had an amused expression on his face, and a smile was lit across his face. I took his hand, sending a jolt of electricity through us. My hand pulled away and I blushed muttering a 'thanks', putting on a friendly smile.

"So what are you guys watching?" I asked, hoping to clear the awkwardness of our little hand spark.

"Oh, just some singing show that Emmett _insisted_ on watching," Rosalie snapped, glaring at Emmett.

"Oh come on Rose! American Idol's a classic! Besides, I seem to recall your eyes being glued to the screen," Emmett protested.

"That wasn't my fault. I just couldn't pull my eyes away from the horror of those _freaks!_ I mean what was that man wearing?" Rosalie demanded.

"I think it as a bird suit…" Jasper added in.

"Whatever it was, I never what to see someone wear something that atrocious again!" Alice exclaimed, jumping off the couch gracefully. "So Claire, what have you been up to since we were gone?" she asked curiously. I knew for a fact that see had no idea because I had been blocking her powers on me.

"I just went out for some fresh air," I said casually. "How was hunting?" I asked, taking the subject away from me.

"Okay, I guess," Edward, said stepping up behind me, making my dead heart beat slightly faster.

"Poor Eddy didn't get any lions," Alice said, putting and faking sympathy.

"Alice! What have I told you about calling me Eddy!" Edward exclaimed. I saw Alice giggle, taking a few graceful leaps of mirth, making Edward roll his eyes.

"What wrong with nicknames Eddy-kinz?" Liz said coming up from behind him and wrapping her arms around him, sending me a look as see did so. I let out a small growl, sending her a look as well.

"Liz, for the last time _do not _call me Eddy-kinz! Do you know how incredibly annoying it is?" Edward snapped at her, shrugging her arms off of him. "And stop clinging on to me."

I smiled at this, taking a glance at Liz to see her with her tail in between her legs and slumped against the wall. Sensing the tension in the room, Emmett stepped forth wearing a big grin on his face. Alice was giggling in the background and I knew that whatever Emmett wanted to do, would not be enjoyable.

"You guys, I just had the greatest idea!" he said, his eyes sparkling with excitement.

"What Emmett?" Edward asked warily.

"We're all going to play truth or dare!" he exclaimed jubilantly.

We all moaned, except for Alice of course, who was squealing with delight making Jasper's face light up too. Liz was still leaning against the wall with her head down, from rejection. _Ha, ha, ha! Take that bitch! Don't say I didn't warn you…_

"Emmett you're a genius!" Alice squealed jumping up and down. "Okay, now who wants to go first?"

I looked around the room; everyone's eyes were frozen with fear. Apparently Emmett and Alice's 'games' had left a few of m family members scarred. Suddenly, an intoxicating smell washed over me, one that I recognized immediately. I felt his face next to my ear, making my cheeks turn pink.

"Claire, if I were you, I would use your power and save yourself," he whispered in my ear. His breath washed over me, making me want to melt into his arms.

"I can make more than one person invisible," I offered, turning my head around and instantly regretting it. His face was so close and he was staring at me intently with his golden eyes, bright from hunting. I'm sure I felt myself blush, making him smile.

I think I may take you up on that offer," he said, his eyes gleaming with something I recognized, but couldn't recall. Shrugging it off, I grabbed his hand and smiled. Our bodies soon were completely indistinguishable against our surrounding, and we ran, far, far away. As I was running, I thought about the look in his eyes. What was it? I could swear I've seen it before…and then it hit me. It was love.

**Okay, there it is!! Please R&R!! I realized how wrong my statement of 'reply if you have a heart,' because I realized a lot of people (myself included) have given their hearts to Edward so… Replay if you have a heart OR if you've given it away to Edward!! Thanks:D**

**Dazzledbyu88**

**P.S. Thank you for all of my reviews!!! Let's try to reach 100!! **


	7. Chapter 6: Discoveries

**Hey guys! Thank you SO much for all my reviews!!! We got passed 100! Happy dances Ok, here's the chapter a lot of you have been waiting for, I'm sorry it's so short, but they'll be more chapters coming up, don't worry, it's FAR from over. **

Chapter 6: Discoveries

**EPOV**

I sat on my black couch, recalling the wonderful day I had had with Claire. After we I had escaped' from Emmett and Alice's little game, we found ourselves in the meadow where we had played the snowball fight. We lied down on the grass and asked each other question about us, never going too personal. I remembered how beautiful she looked in the moonlight. Her hair was shining like a star, and her eyes had a certain twinkle in them. As soon as I could no longer hear the panicked thoughts of my siblings, we headed back. I felt bad for leaving them there, but they'll get over it. Besides, Emmett and Alice still owe me for the time they scratched my Volvo, doing god knows what. I let my thought wander back to Claire again. She reminded me so much of my Bella. I couldn't deny the fact that I was falling head over heels for her. So my question was, what now? With Claire I was…happy. _But do you deserve it? After what you did to Bella? _The voice in my head taunted me. It was right, I didn't deserve her, and besides, she probably didn't feel the same way about me. However, I promised to myself I would always be there for her. I would try to fix the mistakes I had made with Bella and maybe in some way, I could make up for what I did. _You know that's not going to happen. You can never make up for what you did, you monster._

About half an hour into my wonderful alone time, Alice barged in to my room, looking even more excited than when she used to take my angel on her shopping trips.

"Edward!" she exclaimed, prancing around my room. "I'm _so_ happy for you!' she exclaimed, hugging me.

"For what Alice?" I asked, wary. It was never a good thing when Alice got excited, well at least not for me.

"Edward!" she said, giving me an exasperated look. "You're in love!" she exclaimed, jumping in sheer joy again.

I was at loss for words. How was I supposed to respond to that?

"What?" was the only thing I managed to get out of my mouth.

"Oh don't play stupid Edward! You're in love with Claire!" Alice exclaimed.

I tried reading her mind, trying to find a way to get out of her torture, but she wasn't thinking straight. There was so many different thoughts streaming through her head, I couldn't make them out.

"Alice Cullen, that's none of your business! Now get out of my room!" I demanded, growling at her.

"But Edward!" she whined. " Of course it's my business! After all you are my brother!" she protested, pouting slightly. _How could someone so small be so annoying?_

"Alice, _please,_ just get out, I have a lot on my mind," I replied, trying to be patient, and calm.

"Fine! But I'll come back later, and maybe I'll bring C-," she started, her voice fading away as she ran out my door.

"Alice!" I roared, chasing after her. I was almost out of the door when Liz came and stopped me in my tracks.

"Oh! There you are Eddiekinz! I've been looking _everywhere_ for you! I think we need to talk," she stated, looking deadly.

Having a 'talk' with Liz was really the _last_ thing I wanted to do, but it looked like I would never hear the end of it if I didn't.

"Ok Liz, but I have to go somewhere," I said, annoyed.

"This will only take a minute," she said emotionless, brushing past me. She looked like she was trying desperately hard to be serious, and it was hilarious. She sat herself on my black couch, crossed her legs, and lifted her chin in a high ad mighty matter, and motioning for me to sit next to her. I walked hesitantly over to her and sat on the other side of the couch, staying as far away from her as I could.

"Edward," she stared solemnly. "I think that you should stay away from Claire," she paused and looked up at me, waiting for what I could only guess, some agreement on my part. I nodded and decided to speed things up by looking in her head.

_"How dare that little bitch Claire even go near my Edward after I already threatened her twice! I'm going to have to deal with her later…" _she thought.

As soon as I heard this, uncontrollable anger started to explode inside of me.

"You threatened Claire!" I demanded. My eyes had turned pitch black and I involuntarily started to snarl at her.

"Well, of course! I mean, what was I supposed to do? Stand back and watch that little _human_ _vampire thing_ steal _my_ boyfriend away from me? I don't think so Edward!" she exclaimed, now raising her voice.

"Boyfriend?!" I questioned, outraged at the thought. Elizabeth, let me make this clear to you I am not and will never, ever in my entire existence be yours!"

The last thing I heard was Liz's shriek of anger, before I crumpled to the ground, and all was black.

**BPOV**

After the trip to the meadow I had ran upstairs, to take a shower. I still had the tingling sensation of out talk last night in the meadow. The very thought of Edward and I even talking, sent waves of happiness throughout my body. After I finished my shower, I checked the mail for any letters from Aro. I nearly screamed in joy when I found a letter in his usually parchment paper, containing an explanation to Lady Isabella. I quickly ran up to my room and scanned it over with my eyes.

Dear 'B,'

First off, I'm really sorry about the whole surprise Cullen thing. And although I am quite fearfully of the day when you return, I don't regret it. Bella, you need closure, I couldn't keep letting you live with the feeling of not knowing. As for the Lady Isabella thing well… we were kinda hoping that you wouldn't find out about that. We did it just in the hope that you might like to try living as well royalty. You see your title is now quite more than Lady, but now Princess, we thought it would get your mind off well, the Cullen's, if you got to run your own country. However now we see that that would have only been a temporary solution to your problems, and what you really needed was go back to them. I know you're going to be very angry when you hear about this, but please keep in mind that we were only thinking of your wellbeing.

We all love you Princess!

Aro

What was that supposed to mean!? He sent me here so that I could feel closure? And Princess? It was all so much to take in, that it left me sitting there in a trance like state.

"Claire, Claire!" a voice screeched, taking me away from my thoughts.

My eyes shot open, pulling me out of the confusing thought about Aro's letter, to see a frantic Alice. I've never seen her so, distraught. Her hair was a mess, worry was etched into her perfect features, and her eyes were pleading.

"What's wrong Alice?" I asked concerned, getting out of my chair and hiding the letter in one quick motion.

"Oh Claire! I had a vision! It's about Edward!" she said, frantically, and I knew if she was human she would be crying.

_Edward! Oh, no, please, please be okay! _I thought in my head, but hid my anxiety.

"Alice, listen to me, calm down!" I said sternly, looking into her eyes. She took a breath and tried to compose herself more.

"Okay, good. Now what about Edward?" I asked calmly, but on the inside I was screaming.

Alice looked like she was debating something before finally she said one word that made me bolt out of the door, even faster than Edward.

"Liz."

I couldn't think as I ran to Edward's room. The only thought that I could manage was '_I swear to god if Edward's hurt, that bitch is going down, I don't care anymore_

It took me about three seconds to get to Edward's room. The door was closed, and I broke it down, not bothering with dealing with the possible lock. The sight of which I saw, made me stop dead. Edward was on the ground, unconscious, and getting paler and paler by the seconds. Liz was standing next to him, looking down at him with a look of satisfaction. I suddenly was hit with a million emotions at once. Worry, alarm, fear, pain, grief, hate, and finally rage. Uncontrollable rage took over and my instincts kicked in. I snarled and tackled her, but she evaded the attack. She came after me again and I kicked her with all of my strength into the wall, leaving a hole.

"What did you do to him!?" I demanded, furiously.

Sometime during this I saw the rest of the Cullen family come in, running immediately to Edward. As much as I wanted to see if he was okay, I kept my eyes on Liz.

"I only gave him what he deserved!" Liz spat back.

"Liz, I'm not playing! Tell me what you did to him, or so help me god I'll rip you into shreds before you even know what's coming!" I spat, my eyes a pitch black.

"Claire!" Alice protested. "You promised!"

"Not now Alice!" I exclaimed, my eyes never leaving Liz.

She lunged at me again, and I dodged it easily. I turned invisible and attacked her from behind, jumping on her back and bringing her down and pinning her underneath me.

"Oh!" she exclaimed. "That's how you want to play is it?"

She tossed me off of her, and I hit the floor, landing on my head.

"Claire, are you alright?" Esme called. Even if she couldn't see me I was sure she heard exactly where I fell.

"I'm fine Esme don't worry about me, is Edward okay?" I called back, preparing to pounce at Liz as soon as the moment was right.

"I'm fine!" he called back in a husky voice.

I sighed, and felt as if a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders.

"Alright Claire, let's see how tough you are without your powers!" Liz exclaimed, staring at me. _Oh crap… Please still look like Claire, please still look like Claire…_ I pleaded in my head. I looked down at myself and saw that I was now completely visible, and there was something else. My hair was getting shorter, and browner by the second. I had a feeling that my freckles were gone, and last but not least, my skin got lighter. Vampire light. I was Bella again.

I was stunned. I had no idea of what to do, or how to react. I saw Liz, staring at me in shock. I turned my head ever so slightly, and dared to look at the Cullen's. They were all staring at me, taking the sight of me in. All of their faces had a mixture of emotions on them. Happiness, relief, shock, awe, confusion, some guilt, surprise, and then my eyes met the beautiful golden eyes of my angel. It was clear that the only emotion on his face was love. But I wasn't ready for this, I didn't want Bella to have to confront my former family. I knew why Edward left, and how miserable he was, but I was scarred. And so I did the only thing I could think of. I ran like a bat out of hell.

**EPOV**

I was in complete shock at what just happened. My mind was still trying to process the fact that Claire, just turned into Bella, my Bella. So many emotions were running through m head, and I just couldn't pick one. Excitement, relief, guilt, joy, confusion, shock, but finally settled on love. I couldn't believe it! My angel was here, and alive! _She's so beautiful as a vampire, even more so as a human. _But something was wrong. Bella looked scarred. It certainly wasn't because of Liz, she had handled that fairly well, but she was looking at me, the fear evident in her beautiful blue eyes. Then she did something I never expected, she ran away from us, from me.

Without thinking, I immediately started chasing after her, following her into the woods. I didn't care about the trees that I was passing at a hundred miles an hour, or the fact that humans might see me. All I could think about, or care about, was Bella. I followed her scent until she was within my eyesight. She looked so scarred, and I couldn't understand why. I sped up, catching up to her and calling her name.

"Bella!" I cried, getting closer to her.

She turned her head around while running, giving me a glimpse of her face. Her cheeks were red, and her eyes were puffy, from the tears falling down her beautiful blue eyes. Her eyes held so much pain, and fear in them, it made my heart break.

"Don't follow me Edward," she whispered in a pleading voice.

"What?" I asked stunned, slowing my pace down considerably. "Bella, why are you running?"

She too slowed down her pace, and eventually I realized that we were now standing, facing each other. She was so beautiful, but her eyes were so full of pain and fear.

"Edward…" she started, in a frail voice. "I need to go, please don't follow me. It's better this way," she said, her eyes on the brim of tears.

"Bella love, clearly this isn't the better way if you're so upset," I reasoned, reaching my hand out to catch one of her tears.

"No Edward," she said, her voice was full of pain as she pushed my hand away. "I have to go, please, just let me go."

I was frozen, my hand still hovering in the air where she pushed it away from her. _She doesn't want me? _

"Bella why are you leaving?" I pleaded, meeting her eyes, which she broke away from. Then she turned her back to me without a word, and started walking away. About three feet away, she grew two beautiful wings out of her back, and flew away, leaving me shocked and heartbroken.

**Okay there it is!! Edward finally found out about Bella, and Claire kicked Liz's ass. I know some parts of this may be confusing, like why Bella left, but it's because she wasn't ready to deal with Edward as Bella. Also she's afraid that he'll leave her again. Any other questions, feel free to PM me and PLEASE, PLEASE review!!! **

**P.S. –I'm really lazy, so I don't proof read my work, so I'm sorry if there's any errors! Thanks!**


	8. Chapter 7: A Lady

**Hey guys! I'm really sorry I haven't posted in so long, but I've been having writers block. I've decided not to go with the Princess idea, but it's still going to follow the same plot line, just with Lady Isabella. I know that a lot of people wanted my story to be what they wanted, and I tried to squeeze everything in to please people. This chapter is defiantly not my best work, but it's starting off the plot for this part of my story, like a transitioning chapter. I'm really sorry to say that Edward won't come till later on, but this is without a doubt a BellaxEdward story. Please stay with me! I know this chapter isn't the best but the other chapters coming up soon!**

Chapter 7: A Lady

I felt the tears pouring down my face as I flew away. What I feared the most just happened to me. I never intended on Edward finding out about me, I never wanted him to. Part of me wanted so much to fall into his arms but the other part of me was terrified. If he left me again, I knew for sure that I would not be able to survive. And then there was that one part, deep inside of me, that was angry. I was angry that he left me, angry that I was forced to live without him for this long. But most of all I was angry that he didn't know I couldn't survive without him. More tears rolled down my face down. He didn't love me anymore, and I just had to get used to that. Sure he mourned my death and felt guilty, but that didn't change the fact that he didn't want me. He even said it himself that day in the woods. But none of that mattered anymore. I was going to have to be stronger from now on. It was time to start a new chapter in my life, hopefully one that would not involve heartbreak. _I need to get my mind off some things; I hope that the missions will still be enough to 'distract' me now... _I thought to myself, flying over the clouds below me, leaving the heartbroken Bella Swan, behind me.

It was twilight when I finally got to Italy. The Volturi castle looked like something out of a storybook as I flew down towards it. I started cautiously towards the castle on foot, preparing for Aro's wrath as coming home a failure. Yes, just one more thing to add to my list of mess-ups. I had a job, take out Liz, and I failed, along with giving away my identity.

When I had finally got to the castle, I wiped way any signs of uneasiness and strolled with my chin up high, receiving several bows from the guards. I had every right to be here, as far as any one was concerned. No one needed to know of my failure but Aro.

I strode into the one of the common rooms where the gang usually hung out around this time of day. I saw them before they saw me. They were all sprawled out on the various leather couches surrounding a big stoned fireplace, their backs all turned to me. I stopped by the entrance, mentally preparing myself before walking in, and making myself known by tripping on one of the rugs.

They all spun around, smiles on their faces.

"Bella's back!" Jane exclaimed happily, running toward me to give me a hug. I wasn't afraid of Jane anymore, she never could, nor tried, to hurt me and over the past couple of years she started to feel like my little sister.

"Hey Jane," I replied, hugging her back.

"Hey Bells!" Alec said excitedly and came to join Jane by my side. It was then when I finally looked at them, and my entire new family. Something was different… Then it dawned on me.

"Your eyes!" I exclaimed, shocked and joyful.

All of them had a mixture of red and gold eyes and were smiling happily at me.

"We wanted it to be a surprise, we know how much your against our diet and we've finally decided to all partake in Carlisle's method. It was our gift to you, for the mission, but we didn't expect you home so soon! We've been drinking from animals ever since you left, but it takes a while for the red eye color to disappear," Aro explained, a smile on his face.

"That's great you guys!" I exclaimed, feeling my face swell with joy. "I'm so proud of you! However," I started, feeling my face fall again.

"What's wrong Bella?" Heidi asked.

"I messed up so bad," I said, feeling tears form at my eyes.

"What happened Bells?" Aro asked concerned, no trace of anger in his voice.

"They found out about me, all of them. I got in a fight with Liz and she used her power on me and they found out. Worst of all, they know what my power is and Liz is still alive. I can't go back to finish the job without them getting suspicious now, and I've ruined everything!" I sobbed. "I'm so sorry. And then Edward, he…and I, then Liz…"

Heidi wrapped her arms around me and rubbed my back.

"There, there Bella, it'll be okay, calm down. We shouldn't of put you up to this, I can only imagine how hard it was for you," she said, comforting me while I continued to sob. "Aro you idiot! I told you not to send her!" she scolded from over my shoulder.

"I'm sorry, but what was I supposed to do? Clearly this 'Liz' is a threat and we had to watch her. Bella's power made her the only one able to go without the Cullen's getting suspicious or fearful. You know how they've always disliked us!" Aro protested.

"So you could have sent someone to watch from a distance! Even Gianna! I'm sure they wouldn't recognize her as a vampire! Look at what you've done to poor Bells! The poor thing! Do you even remember why she came here in the first place?"

Aro shifted uncomfortably before finally silently nodding his head.

"I'm so sorry Bells, you remember why I sent you though, from my letter right?" he said, looking at me apologetically.

"Yes, closure right?" I asked him.

He nodded.

"By the way, that reminds me…" I said, pulling myself away from Heidi and recomposing myself. "You are _so _dead Aro!" I shrieked, chasing after his already fleeting body with a smile on his face.

I sat in my room as always, staring up at the ceiling. _What am I going to do with myself? _I thought. I wanted to finally get over Edward. I wanted to finally accept that he didn't love me, Bella, anymore, and that I had to stop dwelling on the past. Still, the pain was worse now in my chest, the hole getting larger and larger, tearing me up. Now did I not only have to deal with him leaving me, but with seeing his face again and now missing him more than ever. Hs face, his voice, his smell…everything that I loved about him was engraved into my memory. It was like a fresh cut, forever paining me when I thought about him and how I would never see him again.

I was only vaguely aware of the day rolling on outside of my own little world of pain and confusion. I had a feeling that my missions wouldn't be enough to distract me anymore, and I feared I would have to resort to being what Aro had originally planned. However, I just couldn't live with the fact of being a 'Princess." Too much attention all the time and frivolous dresses and such. I'd much rather be called Lady Isabella even though I really did not want to become a lady but at this point, I was desperate for anyway out of the pain of losing Edward…again. I sighed and left the room to talk to Aro about a Lady.

Aro was alone when I found him. He was in one of his studies in his favorite worn out leather chair with his feet on the chair and eyes focused on a piece of paper in front of him.

"Aro?" I asked, standing in the opening of the door, still hesitating on my decision.

Apparently he didn't know I'd come into his room, and practically jumped out of his seat.

"Oh, Bella! You startled me!" he exclaimed, putting the paper down and smiling at me warmly. "Come in!" he said, noticing my awkward position at the door.

I smiled and sat myself down facing him.

"Now what can I do for you dear?"

"Well…maybe I should just show you," I said, offering my bare hand so that he could touch it. "I won't block you, I just want to ask you if you think my decision would be wise," I explained.

Aro reached out hesitantly at first, being reminded of what I did to him yesterday when I got home.

"Go on, I won't bite this time," I said with a smile. He smiled back and then lightly touched my hand. I let him probe around my mind, trying to find out the reason I had come to him. After about a minute of searching, I saw him smile and pull his hand away.

"Lady Isabella?" he questioned.

"Oh, shut up, you know why I'm doing this," I snapped back at him.

"Okay, okay calm down Bells! But anyways, I don't see a problem in it. Are you sure you want to do this?"

"I have to Aro, the hole in me is tearing me apart. I need to do something! I can't just sit around and wait for missions anymore or take the time to carry out one. I need a purpose, otherwise I'll start to think, and that's not good," I explained to him.

"Very well then, I'll see to it. Good night Lady Isabella!" he called after me, but I was already rolling my eyes and out the door. When I got back to my room I collapsed on my bed and cried for Edward for the last time. It was time for me to move on and leave Isabella Marie Swan in the past. It was time for a new Bella.

The next day I was awoken by a very excited looking Jane and a very apologetic looking Gianna.

"Wake up sleepy head!" Jane shouted into my ear.

"Ow! Jane that hurt! Sensitive hearing REMEMBER!" I screamed back in her ear, making her squeal and jump back.

"Sorry Bella, I couldn't control her. Aro told us last night about your decision and-" Gianna started explaining.

"And we are going shopping for a new wardrobe! Being Lady Isabella and all, you have to dress a whole lot differently," Jane squealed. _Oh god… another Alice…_

"Oh come on!" I whined.

"_You _wanted distractions remember?" Jane teased me.

I opened my mouth to retaliate but I realized that this is exactly what I wanted.

"Fine, let me wash up and I'll meet you downstairs," I told her. "Now get out of my room!"

Jane laughed and skipped out of the room, dragging Gianna along with her, who smiled sweetly at me and mouthed the word 'sorry,' before disappearing. I smiled, Gianna was always so nice, but she was terribly shy after Aro turned her. _Still at least she has manners unlike SOMEONE, JANE! _I thought bitterly in my head as I got into the shower and washed my hair with the usual strawberry shampoo. _I wonder what my new look and image would be as a lady? _I wondered to myself. After I was done washing up and changed into the new dress Jane had bought me I stared at my reflection, wondering what I should change. I finally decided on changing my shoulder length brown hair to mid torso length with big curls and three different tones of brown. I also changed my face so that it wouldn't look cute and innocent anymore but striking and stunning. No one other than the Volturi would recognize me as Bella anymore. I smiled at the new me, but it didn't feel right. Ignoring it I ran down the stairs to begin my new life.

We spent the rest of the day at various designer shops. Most of my new wardrobe consisted of formal wear and dresses that looked like they belonged in another time period. Jane also insisted that I get matching shoes…for _each _item of clothing I got. All in all, we came back to the castle with numerous gigantic department store boxes, and unfortunately all of which were for me. We put all of our bags in my room and Jane and Gianna sorted through them and arranged them in my huge (never used till now) walk in closet. While they were doing that, I gobbled down a grilled chicken sandwich before collapsing on my bed. Before I knew it, my thoughts had drifted back to Edward. _Did I make the right choice in leaving him? _A part of me thought. _Yes you did! You even did him a favor. You know that he never loved you, now he can clear his conscious of your 'death.' _A voice in my head pointed out. I subconsciously nodded, believing the words. _But what if he still loved you? _Another voice argued. I snorted at this, _Edward never really loved me, and never will. _That's why I was doing this, to give my life more meaning. To finally move on from Edward. I turned over in my bed, and fell asleep with not one dream in my head the whole entire night.

The next morning I awoke to find a beautiful invitation lying next to me.

Dear Lady Isabella, Lady Heidi and Lord Aro,

You are cordially invited the Duchess of Essex's annual Masquerade ball on February 30th 2008. Masks must be worn until midnight with no exceptions. Please RSVP by February 15th to this address. Bring invitation upon arrival.

The Duchess of Essex,

Carolina Bourke

Lady Heidi? She was in on this too? Oh well…I should of expected this, I mean she is Aro's mate. I turned the note over and found a note from Aro.

We're going. The Duchess of Essex is a pain in the neck and we'd never hear the end of it if we declined. Anyway, I've saved you the trouble, and the torture, of searching for a mask. I put it in your closet. Oh yeah…by the way you have your first party this evening at six. I totally forgot (that seams to be happening a lot lately doesn't it?). Anyways I'm really sorry about the short notice but I'm sure after you're shopping spree yesterday you'll find something to wear.

Aro

A party? Tonight!? _Oh crap, what time is it? _11:00 a.m. _Seven hours… __okay, you still have time. Calm down Bella._

I got out of bed and walked over to my closet. On the floor by the door, was a sliver box. I picked it up and opened it, gasping when doing so. Inside was a beautiful hand painted silver eye mask. There was extraordinary detail on the side and it was engraved with patterns of swirls and sparkled when I turned it. Curious, I put it on and went to examine it by my mirror. It looked amazing and you could barley recognize me if I was wearing it since it covered half of my face. My blue eyes were even more striking than usual against the mask, making them seam as if they were dazzling too. After fully examining it, I put it back in the box and took a shower. When I got out of the shower I found a list from Jane waiting for me on my nightstand.

Bella,

Here's a list of things you need to do before your first night as a 'lady,' wink, wink.

Memorize the list of people that will be at the ball and their backgrounds (List attached)

You need to make a new cover for yourself.

Learn how to 'kiss ass' as some silly humans put it now a days. At the ball there will be a lot a very important people and as a new Lady, you cannot afford to make a bad reputation.

Pick out a dress

Let Heidi and I do your make up, and don't you dare complain about it!

You know you love me!

Jane

I rolled my eyes and laughed at Jane's note, putting it aside, I grabbed the paper behind it. It was an impossibly long list with various names on it, ranging from Dukes, to Countess's. I sat down on my desk, and put my memory to work.

_Why is this so hard!_ I thought angrily to myself. I was expected to be this social butterfly, and being that, I would need to know the dirt on everyone. I had to know everything, from appearances, to years of drama for each person. Finally, at 4 o'clock I had finally memorized it all. With a sigh of relief I put the list down and ventured into my closet. Dresses of all shapes and colors lined the walls, each with matching shoes and accessories. _Alice would've died to see this…_ I thought sadly. I missed my family terribly, but there was nothing I could do about it now. I had chosen my path and I intended to stick with it. I randomly picked out a dress and called for Jane and Heidi to work their magic on me. And all the while, while they were pinning my hair up and doing my make-up, the lines between Bella and Lady Isabella were starting to blur more and more, until it was a mere sliver.

**Okay, there it is. As I said before this is a transitioning chapter so it's not my best work, but PLEASE review! More chapters will be coming up soon, once I get over this little bit of writers block I'm having.**


	9. Chapter 8: First Night

**Dear readers…I AM THE WORST FANFIC WRITER!!! I haven't updated in FOREVER and I apologize deeply for that. I was on vacation and just recently got back yesterday so I wrote all of this today. I'm warning you now…Edward is not in this chapter but he's coming back don't worry!!! THIS IS A BELLAxEDWARD FANFIC!! Again, I'm really sorry for the delay but here it is, chapter eight. Enjoy! **

Chapter 8: First Night

I stared back at the girl looking at me in the mirror. She was beautiful. Her now long brown hair had been pinned up with elegant silver pins allowing some lose curls to cascade down the sides of her face framing it. A beautiful silk evening dress clung to her perfect curves making her rival even Rosalie's beauty. However when I looked into the mirror I no longer saw Bella. She was gone. I gave myself one more glance over before walking out of the room without a sound, and with the image burning in my head.

The world around me was tinted a dark shade of black by the limo's windows. I was to attend Lady Jessica's **(sound familiar?) **ball alone, as my 'coming out into society' ball. _Ugh, this whole thing was so stupid. Here I was, sitting in the back of a limo, in a ridiculously expensive dress, going to so stranger's party. _I thought to myself, but soon realized that that was Bella talking. I tried to think of what Lady Isabella would be thinking but all I could come up with was. _Like, Oh my god! I'm like totally like going to a really fancy party! And look at my _dress_! Pretty sparkles… _Okay, maybe it was going to take some time before finding my inner "Lady **(Corny much? Lol sorry)." **

After what seemed like forever the limo finally pulled up to a huge mansion a grand staircase leading up to it. Right in front of the staircase was several photographers, taking pictures. Several other limos were there too; each filled with ladies and gentlemen, all in their fancy, expensive eveningwear, parading around. I mentally braced myself before stepping out of the safety of the limo's tinted windows. _Okay Isabella, you can do this. Just step out of the car, walk up there and mingle with people and you'll be fine. But whatever you do, do not act like Bella! _The driver opened my door for me. I let out a breath and put my best foot forward, stepping out into the blinding light of the photographers. I started to cover my face, but realized that is what Bella would do and quickly placed them at my sides, dazzling the cameras with my vampire charm. This was one of my first lessons as a Lady. Don't over do it, because now, they were following me around, asking questions, and getting on my nerves.

"Who are you?" one of them asked, shoving a microphone in my face.

"Lady Isabella, a relative of Lord Aro's," I answered.

"Where are you from?" another reporter asked.

"England," I answered with no emotion. This was all part of my new cover and at times I felt like I was reciting a silly rule in school.

"Where is your escort?"

"My what?" I answered back confused.

"Your escort Lady Isabella. Where is he?" the reporter asked impatiently.

"And a while ago, didn't Lord Aro say that you were from Italy?"

"I don't have-," I started. "And England…" I started to answer but he questions were overwhelming and the fact that Aro did indeed say that I was from Italy was a threat to my cover.

"He's right here," a male voice answered in a British accent, standing besides me.

I looked up, bewildered to find none other than Brian Sullivan from my school in Alaska!

"Brian?! What are you doing-,"

"Oh! Prince Brian how lovely it is to see you again! How was your trip?" A blond haired reporter asked.

"Lovely thank you," he said, continuing to speak with that accent. "However, I'm afraid we'll have to talk later because I have a Lady to escort," he said with a charming smile and leading me up the stairs to the ballroom.

I allowed him to lead me, dazed and confused as I was. _Why is he here? Prince? I thought he was from Italy! What is going on? _These questions swirled inside my head like a fire, burning. When we finally got somewhere quite I pulled him aside into a dark corner where no one could see us.

"Can you please tell me what is going on?" I demanded.

That charming smile lit across his face and it wasn't until now that I realized he had freckles. I had to admit that he was quite cute, for a human, but I couldn't even think about that. Not after Edward.

"Calm down Bella, Aro sent me," he explain as if that would uncomplicated things.

"Aro?! How do you know him?" I demanded once again. "And why did they call you a Prince!?"

"Whoa, one at a time, please! Bella, you're a smart girl, don't you recognize me? I _am_ the Prince of England. And that's how I know Aro. We're old friends," he explained to me as if he was explaining a basic 2 24 problem.

"_You're_ the Prince of England?!" I asked unbelievingly.

"It's true, maybe if you hadn't spent the last half a century in solitude you would know that, now come on, we have a party to attend," he said, leading me away.

"WHAT?! How do you know about that!?" I demanded with more force than all he others.

"Like I said Isabella, Aro and I go way back," he said simply and led me off the ballroom to 'mingle.' Too confused to argue, I followed him and together we explained to people that Lady Isabella had simply moved from Italy to England where I met the Prince. Finally I was acquainted with Lady Jessica and her fiancé Lord Michael. _Does anyone see the irony in this? _I thought to myself. Jessica was a tall and slim woman. She had wispy blond hair and a very strong nose tat was faced a little too high up if you asked me. She prattled on about the food and the clothing the other ladies wore. Mostly they were complaints and hurtful gossip so I let it breeze through my head. Then there was Lord Michael. He had red hair and green eyes that seemed to be looking elsewhere than at his fiancé at times. Elsewhere meaning the other ladies and occasionally me. He bragged to us about his possessions and his wealth. _Oh god, those two were perfect for each other…_ When Brian (who had been accompanying me this whole time) and I finally could not stand there chatter anymore we excused ourselves and Brian convinced me to go dancing. I have to say, Brian was excellent company, and very charming. While on the dance floor, amidst all the other dancers in their lovely dresses and suits, I could help but think about prom night with Edward. Of course that led to me thinking about my very own Prince, and if he was thinking about me too.

After a couple of dancers with Brian, we found ourselves outside the ballroom and on one of the balconies overlooking the gardens. We stood there together, looking at the moon with neither one of us saying anything. I was starting to like Brian. He reminded me so much of Edward, even though I knew Bella could never replace him. It was strange. Ever since I met him that first day of school, I did feel something, and he was so nice to me. However until now, it seemed like a trust I had with him. But now, after spending the day with the Prince himself, I was starting to think that _maybe_ Lady Isabella could let him in, but as a friend only.

"So _Prince Brian,"_ I started. "Is that accent of yours real?"

"Of course it is, I was just hiding it in Alaska. Could you imagine if word got out about me there? Yikes!"

"Why were you in Alaska?" I asked.

He sighed and looked down at his feet for a second.

"Aro sent me to keep an eye on you," he said finally.

"Oh…" was all I said. "So that day in Advanced Chemistry you were just trying to get close to me right?"

"No! Bella I came over to sit with you because I wanted to. Heck, I didn't even know who you were until you told me your name. I'm actually really glad that I took it because now I've met you," he said, with a kindness in his eyes.

I smiled back and looked back towards the moon, before looking at him again.

"I'm really glad I've met you too Brian, now, let's stop with this cheesiness and take a walk in the gardens," I said, moving away from the edge of the balcony. "Come on!" I laughed, and my new friend and I disappear into the green lush gardens, till it was time to go home.

By the time I got back to the Volturi castle, it was early morning and I collapsed on my bed exhausted, basically ripping my dress off and climbing into my PJ's in a half conscious manner before collapsing on my bed. I was too tired to dream, even though I was sure I had an image of Brian and Edward flashed in my head once or twice.

By the time I woke up the sun was high in the sky, indicating that it was noon. I stretched out on my bed and yawned, happy that Jane had not disturbed me again. I put on some jeans and a t-shirt before heading downstairs for breakfast. I quickly made myself a bagel and ate alone in silence before my cell phone rang. I hurried to pick it up.

"Hello?"

"Hey Bella, it's Brian."

"Oh, hey Brian what's up?" I asked casually, taking another bite of my bagel and sitting back down on the chair.

"Nothing much…I was just wondering if you would like to do something with me today," he asked in his amazing British accent.

"Oh sure…what did you have in mind?"

"Just a little sight seeing on horseback. It's the only real way to take in nature's beauty. Sound good?" he asked.

"Sure, sounds great, I just hope you can keep up with me," I said jokingly, even though there was truth behind those words. A long time ago Aro had taught me how to ride, and quite well actually.

"I don't think that'll be a problem," he answered back. "Pick you up in an hour?"

"Sure sounds good, she you then," I replied and hung up the phone. I ran up to my room and started digging around for my britches. _Ugh, come on they've got to be here… _

"Looking for these?" Jane asked casually, holding up my beige britches.

"Yes!" I replied in relief, jumping up to get them.

"Hold on there not so fast," Jane answered. "First you've got to tell me where you are going."

"I'm going with Brian to do some sight seeing okay? No give me the pants Jane!" I demanded.

"Prince Brian!?" she asked shocked. "A.K.A. the guy that has never had a girlfriend or been in a relationship with?"

"Yeah, sure whatever…" I replied tiredly, reaching for my pants that Jane kept away from me.

"Oh my god! I have to tell the others! Here, take you pants," she said throwing them at me and running off. "Have fun Lady Isabella!" she called back, and disappeared down the staircase.

I merely rolled my eyes and returned to the room, closing it was a thud and locking it to keep anymore little Jane's out.

An hour later I had been fully dressed in my riding apparel. From my black tall boots, to my beige britches, my light blue polo shirt, my Charles Owen helmet and my Hermes crop and gloves. I had to admit, something about being in my riding outfit made me feel…in control, even when I was on the ground. Just then I couldn't help but laughed at how ridiculous I was acting and quickly walked away from the mirror to wait for Brian downstairs. However just as I was coming down, the doorbell rang and one of the maids quickly answered it.

"Hello, is Lady Isabella here?" Brian asked very politely and princely.

"I'm right here!" I called, hurrying down the stairs.

Brian looked positively 'dashing' in his riding outfit. He looked very princely and very… British. He had about the same thing on as me, except his shirt was a pattern of light blue and green. We both smiled awkwardly when we realized that we matched.

"Ready?" he asked, his brown eyes were shining with excitement and I could instantly tell that he was just as excited as I was to get outdoors.

"Yeah, let's go," I said and followed him to the limo that was to take us back to his stable. After we had settled in the car nicely Brian started talking.

"I'm so glad I've met a girl like you, Bella. You're not like some of the other girls that would be running for the hills if they were to go on an all day trip on horseback. I really am glad to have a friend like you."

"Same here Brian," I replied back with a smile. "Just from last night I can tell that this whole royalty thing must be pretty lonely, being surrounded my all those mindless people all the time. Like Lady Jessica and Lord Michael!" I said laughing at the memory of them. "I'm really glad I met someone real like you too."

We both smiled and then moved on to the topic of preferred horse breeds and the trails that we were going to take until the limo came to a stop.

"So, we'll take the Silver Birch bridle path and then follow along the river until we hit Oak Ridge were we'll stop for a snack and then head back on Water's edge?" I said confirming out path.

Brian nodded and we both stepped out of the car, only to be bombarded with photographers, blinding me with there flashing lights. Brian instantly came to my side and together we tried to get through.

"Is it true that you two are dating?" One obnoxious looking reporter asked, shoving the microphone in my face.

"What?!" Brian and I answered back simultaneously. "No we're just friends," I explained, looking him straight in the eye and giving him a little vampire snarl to tell him that I was serious. He instantly shrank away and the other reporters took his spot.

"How long have you been 'just friends'?"

"Prince Brian, how come you have never had another Lady friend before? Why now, why her? Is she 'the one'?"

"What do you to have planned-."

"SHUT THE BLOODY HELL UP!" Brian roared at the top of his lungs, and took their stunned response as an advantage, and he and I made our way through at last.

Once we were safe inside, he took a deep breath and was composing himself again.

"I'm terribly sorry you had to see that, but they can be _so_ annoying!"

I nodded in agreement and we set off again. The royal palace was huge and I've only seen the back of it. It took us fifteen minutes to walk to the stables, which were also quite grand with cobblestone and shiny wood. Brian led me through the barn and let me have first pick of the horses. I picked a dapple grey gelding thoroughbred, with a sweet face and kind eyes, but strongly built body. Brian chose a pure black Arabian stallion and we each tacked up our horses and hopped on. We stared at a walk first but then I gave Brian a mischievous smile and pressed my legs against my horse until we were at a full gallop. I screamed in delight and looked behind me to see Brian trailing after me, with the same mischievous smile I had on before plaster to his face.

"Am I going to fast for you Brian?" I called back to him.

"Not a chance!" He replied back, and suddenly I saw a flash of black before I realized that Brian was now ahead of my, laughing.

By the time we reached the end of the bridle path our horses were drenched in sweat from the work out and we dismounted and hand walked them along the river for a while, allowing them to cool off and drink.

We talked about the scenery and other various things like out favorites and a little bit of our backgrounds. Before we knew it we were at Oak's Ridge where we stopped to tie the horses up and Brian brought out a picnic basket from god knows where.

"Hungry?" he asked.

"Famished, thanks," I said, walking over to the basket but _somehow _managing to trip and fall on Brian, in a very awkward position.

"Sorry," I muttered, turning bright red, and seated myself opposite him on the blanket laid out.

"No need, I was just glad I was able to break your fall!" he replied back.

"Apple?"

"Sure, thanks," I said, taking a big bite out of it.

"So where did you learn to ride like that?" he asked.

"Aro taught me, during my half a century in solitude." I looked at him for a while before risking to say," You know don't you?"

"About your family?"

"Yes. You know how we're…'different'?"

"Yes," he replied back.

"How long have you known?" I asked.

"Since before you as a human. Bella…you should know that, I'm a vampire too."

**Please review!!!! I know it was short and Edward wasn't in this one but I'm sorry!!!! He's coming later on though don't worry, and the is a BxE fanfic so chill people!!! Love you guys!**

**Dazzledbyu88**


	10. Chapter 9: Findings

**Here you go guys, just wrote it, my fingers were flying! Hope you enjoy, and PLEASE review!!!**

Chapter 9: Findings

"That's impossible," I stated flatly. There was no possible way that could ever happen.

"Actually Bella, it is," he answered back.

"No, no it can't be. You smell human! You act human, you even kinda look human…well not that much but-," I rambled.

"Well…you see technically I'm not _really_a vampire like you. I'm half human as well. The only vampire abilities I have are immortality, speed, and strength, although I have to say I'm not the strongest vampire."

"What about your looks?" I asked him.

"What about them?" He asked puzzled.

"Aren't they part of you being a vampire?"

"Bella! I'm hurt!" he exclaimed, putting his hand to his heart and pretending he actually was experiencing physical pain. "What, a guy can't my handsome without being accused of being a mythical creature?"

"No, no! That's not how I meant it at all I just meant…" I trailed off, turning a bright red.

He chuckled, "Never mind I know what you meant, but believe it or not my body is 100 human."  
"How is that possible? To be half and half?" I asked.

His face turned dark for a moment.

"My mother was human, and when her water broke, she was attacked my an insane vampire. Despite the pain that she felt, between childbirth and transformation, she delivered me but died soon after," he explained solemnly.

"Oh Brian," I said putting my hand on his shoulder. "That must have been terrible, I'm so sorry."

"It's okay Bella," he said smiling again. "Besides I hardly knew her but still…"

I couldn't resist then, I gave him a quick, hug. I made sure it was friendly and sympathetic, but that didn't stop me from feeling well…something.

The rest of the day was on a lighter tone. Brian was back to his happy, cheery self again, and we were sure that we probably filled the whole woods with our laughter. Now that my 'secret that was never really a secret but I just thought it was' was out, I couldn't help but feel an amazing feeling of being myself. All these years working as a secret undercover assassin (wow, it sounds kinda bad when you think about it…) made me always have to hide myself. But now…I could be as free as a butterfly…literally. I loved this kind of freedom that I wished I could have had with Edward.

It turns out that my powers came in handy when evading the paparazzi. I turned Brian and myself invisible and we slipped by them undetected. Although they were very confused when they found our two horses walking back to the barn alone at the same time we were grabbing a snack at the local café. We ended up eating diner together, and unfortunately could not avoid the paparazzi there so we just had to grin and bare it. When it was finally time to go home, Brian dropped me off in his limo to the Volturi castle and walked up with me to me door. _Oh god what now?_ I thought to myself because we were awkwardly standing in front of my front door, waiting for something to happen.

"So, umm I guess I'll see you later then Bella?" he asked.

"Sure, I had a lot of fun today. Do you remember that reporters face when we totally ditched him?" I asked, lighting up the mood.

He laughed a sweet laugh and smiled.

"Ah yes…priceless. Anyways I had a lot of fun tonight too," he said and then lifted my hand to his mouth and gave it a sweet kiss. "Goodnight Bella," he said with a twinkle in his eye, walking back to his limo.

"N-night Brian," I called back, still a little shocked from the sign of affection he just showed and blushed a deep red before going into the castle.

The moment I walked through the door however, someone pounced on me. Alarmed I threw them off of me and was about to attack when I realized it was Jane.

"Oh, Jane are you okay? You scared me!"

"I'm fine, besides you hit like a girl," Jane said, brushing herself off.

"Whatever Jane, anyways…why did you pounce on me like that?"

"First, because I wanted to see your face. Which was really funny by the way, and second because I want to hear about your date with the world's most desirable man/prince."

"First off, don't ever do that again or I _will_ hurt you," I threatened. "And second; it was not a date!"

"Yeah, uh-huh sure," she answered sarcastically. "You just spent the whole day with him on a romantic horseback ride followed by dinner _and_ a little kiss," she summarized. "Sure, it wasn't a date at all."

"I'm serious! We're just friends! Besides I just met him…"

"Do you like him?!" Jane asked excited.

"I told you, _I just met him._ Besides, I don't think I could even like anyone after Edward…" I trailed off sadly.

"You still have feelings for him?"

"Yes, even if he will never return them I fear I will always love him. However I'm _trying_ to get over it and it's very hard to when I have a small annoying pest like you to bug me all the time," I said annoyed but with a smile on. I messed up her hair affectionately by rubbing her head, which I knew she hated and ran off the bed before she could say anything, locking the door and knowing she would get me in the morning, but too tired to care. I lied down on my bed and was asleep in an instant, dreaming for the first time, of my new friend.

Meanwhile… **EPOV**

I couldn't believe this…Bella left… she left me… she didn't want me… _Well could you blame her? You broke her heart you idiot and then you weren't there to protect her from Victoria. You ruined all of her chances of a normal life you monster. _The voice in my head scolded, and the worst part was that it was true. I replayed that image of her in my mind, over and over again of her leaving. She looked like she was in so much pain and the _worst, worst _most terrible thing was that Bella was afraid of me. I buried my face in my hands, ashamed of myself. I was lying on Bella's bed, as usual where I've been staying ever since she left. I felt so numb again. That feeling that I had after I had to leave her, the most precious thing in my existence. I was still curious as to why Bella was here, disguising herself as Claire, but I was too filled with grief to care at the moment. I realized that changing forms must be Bella's power. I smiled to myself at the memory of her beauty. She had grown up to be even more beautiful than before, and powerful too. I felt the circles under my eyes from not hunting again, but I could care less. I leaned my head down to the bed and inhaled the remains of her smell. _Why didn't I notice before? _I sat there, miserably, wallowing in my heartbreak of losing Bella all over again. When I finally got up it was dark outside and I was just about to leave when I saw a piece of paper sticking out from her desk. Curious, I picked it up and started to read.

Dear 'B,'

First off, I'm really sorry about the whole surprise Cullen thing. And although I am quite fearfully of the day when you return, I don't regret it. Bella, you needed closure, I couldn't keep letting you live with the feeling of not knowing. As for the Lady Isabella thing well… we were kinda hoping that you wouldn't find out about that. We did it just in the hope that you might like to try living as well royalty. You see your title is now quite more than Lady, but now Princess, we thought it would get your mind off well, the Cullen's, if you got to run your own country. However now we see that that would have only been a temporary solution to your problems, and what you really needed was go back to them. I know you're going to be very angry when you hear about this, but please keep in mind that we were only thinking of your wellbeing.

We all love you Princess!

Aro

_What was this? A letter to Bella from Aro? _I recalled when Claire first moved in she said something about being his 'niece,' but why? This made no sense at all. _Was she part of the Volturi? If she was, again, why on earth would she come here? I know she probably hated me and was pretty torn up after I left her from reading the letter about her 'wellbeing.' And what was this about Lady Isabella? And Princess? _It was all so deeply confusing. I read the letter over again and found that it appeared that Aro seemed quite close to Bella. Then at that moment I did something totally against my character. I grabbed the letter and went to find Alice. We were going to the Volturi, and I was going to find Bella, and make her mine again.

**BPOV**

Thankfully that morning now one woke me up, which was a surprise considering that I thought Jane was going to dump cold water on me. Instead of the water to wake me up, I found something that had all the effects of the bucket, without the water, lying on the pillow next to me.

The Prince's New Secret Romance

Feb 28, 2008

It was a little bit of a shock when we found the Prince, escorting the Lady Isabella of England at Lady Jessica's Ball on the 26. After all, Lady Isabella is the newest addition to society, making her first appearance on that very ball. In fact, we had no idea that she was even acquainted with his royal highness, but now there can be no doubt. Apparently the Prince Brian picked up Lady Isabella at her home (The Volturi Castle). The two then went back to his estate in Italy, where they said to some of our reporters that they were, 'just friends.' However the two were seen riding horseback which each other along some of Italy's most beautiful and _romantic _trails. We then caught the 'friends' lying on a picnic blanket in a not so 'friendly' position, if you catch my drift. After there little ride their horses came back rider less, and fearing something had happened to them we sent our reporters out, only to find them having coffee at a nearby café at around then same time the horses came back. We don't know how they managed to pull that trick off but we are going to find out. Later on, we found the 'friends' eating dinner together at one of Italy's most popular restaurants. They then drove back to the Volturi castle where Lady Isabella received a kiss on the hand before parting for the night. We plan to be watching closely on this new romance and we will keep you updated.

-Maria Sands

Gossip Girl Weekly

I couldn't believe this! This was an outrage! How dare those stupid paparazzi interfere and report with _my person life!_ Did they have any sense of self-preservation? What was I going to do!? They made it seem like Brian and are...well…together! And we weren't on the blanket doing…well…you know. I tripped and _fell_ on him. Oh, blast these clumsy feet of mine!

"Jane!" I screeched.

She was in my room in a second.

"What is this?" I demanded, holding up the stupid magazine. "Please tell me this is some sort of twisted revenge tricks!"

"Oh god Bella, I'm so sorry this has happened! They wrote all of those untrue things about you! I didn't want to show it to you, but I had to," she explained distressed.

"You mean…this is real?" I asked disbelievingly.

She nodded. "I'm afraid it's very real, it's on TV too."

I gasped and grabbed my phone. I had to call Brian. Quickly I dialed his number.

"Oh god Bella did you see it yet?" he answered distressed.

"Yes! Of course I've seen it! How could I not it's everywhere!"

"Oh, god I can't believed this has happened. They've done some pretty low things before but this is the worst."

"This has happened before?"

"Well of course Bella, I'm the Prince of England for Christ sake. They follow me around like bees to honey. Oh, Bella, I'm so sorry I got you wrapped up in this stupid bee attracting honey mess as well."

"Okay, enough analogies I get it." I sighed heavily. "So what are we going to do?"

"I honestly don't know, but it would probably be best if we didn't hang out until we find a way," he explained sadly.

I understood. I didn't want any more lies to be spread about me.

"Okay, I understand. But is there no way to see each other? I'm afraid I'm going to miss your company," I confessed.

"Well we can always talk on the phone, when I'm not in meetings and such and your not going shopping with Jane. Oh, that reminds me. Are you going to the ball on Saturday? Carolina Burke's annual masquerade?"

"Yes," I answered.

"Well I am too, and we can see each other there where no one will be able to recognize us."

"Brilliant Brian, see you then," I replied, and we both hung up.

I collapsed back on my bad and ripped the magazine up to shreds. What a great way to start the morning.

After the morning shock the rest of the day went by uneventful, well except that I now had a bunch of paparazzi staking outside the castle. If they only knew what was dwelling in that castle. I had to admit, it was quite ironic. However I thanked the heavens that the whole Volturi family were now full fledged vegetarians, which meant that it was safe for them, well…except for Heidi's state of the art security system that should be kicking in right about…now. Almost as if on cue, I heard the surprised screams as the reporters were suddenly being sent running by water guns and paint balls. Quite silly if you asked me but they did their job and after all…it wasn't as if we could use other materials. I laughed and ran upstairs in my window to go watch. There were reporters running everywhere, in a chaotic frenzy looking for shelter from are system, and I knew very well that no place but inside at the moment was safe, but then again this was a castle of vampires… Smiling I walked away from my window and realized that tomorrow would be the last day before that crazy ball. Oh well…at least I would get to see my friend without that crazy paparazzi following us everywhere. I climbed into bed and dreamed of people in masks, and for the first time in a while, my Edward. I enjoyed the dream while I could, remembering Edward's perfect face, for I knew I would only ever see it in my dreams.

"Wake up sleepy head!" Jane's voice exclaimed, breaking through my dreams.

"We have to get ready for the ball!"  
"Jane…"I answered groggily. "The ball's tomorrow, just chill…"

"Bella! Are you mad! We have to go get new makeup and shoes, and possibly a new dress to match that pretty mask of yours. Oh, and a purse! Oh the work to be done and you're still sleeping!" she exclaimed grabbing my ankles and dragging me off the bed.

"Jane! What did you do that for!"

"To wake you up! Now get your butt in that bathroom, and I want you ready to go in fifteen minutes or else I'll call GossipGirl. Now MOVE!"

"Alright, alright!" I screamed angrily at her and bitterly started getting ready for the day. Is this what Edward was talking about when he was talking about Alice? Because Jane defiantly tops Alice in the annoying sister kinda thing department.

Fifteen minutes later a very grumpy and sleep deprived Isabella walked down the stairs and bitterly let Jane pick out various items for the ball tomorrow. By the time we got back, it was dark. I grabbed all of my new things and deposited them in my closet, too lazy to unpack them and went to sleep, making it very clear to Jane that I could sleep in until noon. She disagreed strongly to that but then I threatened to destroy her credit card and she instantly complied. I went to bed exhausted for the fourth night in a row, and didn't wake until noon the next day.

"Alright Bella, it's noon, now get up, and shower!" Jane exclaimed.

"Fine," I replied and willingly got out of bed to shower while Jane turned my room into a beauty salon. She curled my hair, putting sliver clips in it and pinning it up in ways that only made my face look more beautiful with each pin. Then she added a tiny bit of sparkle to it, to make it shine. I slipped on my light blue silk ball gown and my silver slightly raised heels (anything higher and there would have been a disaster). I slipped my mask on and looked in the mirror one last time. It was amazing. I could barely recognize myself with the mask on. It was amazing what one little mask could do. I smiled once more and grabbed my bag. Had I'd know who I'd meet at the ball that night, I would of stayed home, but I didn't and that's why I stepped out my front door, into the limo, and to the party that I will surly remember for the rest of my existence.

**PLEASE REVIEW!!!!!**


	11. Chapter 10: Plans

Chapter 10: Plans and Dances

**Okay guys! Here's chapter 10! I'm sorry it took so long to post! OMG and thank you to all the amazing people who offered to be my Beta! You guys are amazing but I've already chosen on Edwardjustproposed to be my Beta. And Edwardjustproposed, thank you for doing a great job on this!**

Chapter 10: Plans

**Liz's POV (hahahahaha!)**

_I can't believe that stupid Bella-Claire girl! She totally ruined things for Edward and I. Well, I'm glad she left. Good riddance to that stupid human, vampire thing! I feel bad for Edward that he fell in love with such an __**idiot**__! I hope Edward gets out of his little depression state soon. She left! We should be celebrating! After all, that brat has done nothing but hurt this family in the past. _I thought bitterly as I waited by Bella's door hoping Edward would come out soon. Suddenly I heard a noise and I stood up. Edward burst through the door and ran to another section of the house before I could even say a word. I stood there, hurt. I shrugged, I was used to it. I wandered into that retched girl's room, savoring Edward's lingering scent. I followed it and found that it was the strongest by a letter sitting on her desk.

**Dear 'B,'**

**First off, I'm really sorry about the whole surprise Cullen thing. And although I am quite fearful of the day when you return, I don't regret it. Bella, you needed closure, I couldn't keep letting you live with the feeling of not knowing. As for the Lady Isabella thing well… we were kind of hoping that you wouldn't find out about that. We did it just in the hope that you might like to try living well as royalty. You see your title is quite more than Lady, now Princess, we thought it would get your mind off well, the Cullen's, if you got to run your own country. However now we see that that would have only been a temporary solution to your problems, and what you really needed was go back to them. I know you're going to be very angry when you hear about this, but please keep in mind that we were only thinking of your wellbeing.**

**We all love you Princess!**

_Aro_

Ew! No wonder that girl was so _horrible_. She was part of that horrid Volturi. But what's this? Lady Isabella huh? _Whatever loser…_ I thought to myself. I ran off to find Edward. I heard him and Alice discussing something and I silently listened outside the doorway.

"Alice, did you see it?" Edward asked.

"Of course I've seen it! But that isn't the question we should be pondering. The real question is…what are you going to do about it?"

There was a brief silence before Edward said weakly at first before gaining strength, "I-I'm going to go after her. I'm going to get her back."

"That's my big brother, now come on. We have a plane to catch," Alice said and Edward left immediately to go pack. I hid from both of their view before running back to my own room to pack as well. I booked a flight to Volterra, grabbed my bags and left before any of them knew. Edward was going to be mine; I would not let Bella win this time.

**EPOV**

About three hours after Alice had discovered my plan we were on a flight headed for Italy. It was probably one of the worst flights I've ever had to endure partly because of Alice, who was right beside me and was literally bouncing up and down in her seat the whole way there. But mostly from the anticipation of getting Bella back. I couldn't wait until I could hold her in my arms again. _Ah, sweet Bella…_ _I hope she's okay, being with the Volturi. What if-'_

'_Oh I can't wait to see Bella again!' _Alice's thoughts interrupted me. '_I can't believe that Bella is a Lady! She's so lucky! Think of all the shopping and partying she gets to do! I want to be a Lady too now. Oh, I wonder if she got her dress for the ball yet. The one that I saw in my vision was absolutely stunning!'_

"What vision Alice," I asked confused.

"Oh! I forgot to tell you didn't I? Oh well I had a vision of this masquerade ball being held by an actual _duchess _Edward! Anyways, Bella is supposed to be attending as Lady Isabella with Aro and Heidi. I figured it would be the perfect place for you to win her back, don't you think?"

"Oh, yeah Alice that's sounds great. How did you see this though? I thought you couldn't see Bella in your visions?" I asked confused.

"I saw it through a vision of the Volturi," she explained.

I nodded. "Do you know when it is?"

"February 30th. We still have three days to prepare…and shop of course! Oh I can't believe I'm actually going to a real ball! I wonder if Prince Brian will be there… Well of course he is! After all, he's the prince and-,"

"Alice!" I exclaimed, cutting her rambling off. "Let's just sit for a while. It's bad enough I have to listen to your thoughts about the shopping, I don't need to hear it out loud too," I stated bitterly.

"Okay _fine,_" Alice retorted, sinking in her chair.

"Sorry Alice, I guess I'm a little uptight about getting Bella back. I don't even know if she'll take me back after what I did to her…" I doubted, fear seizing me. I've been so busy about thinking of Bella; I never thought that she might not want me anymore. After all she did run away from me. Oh, god she doesn't want me anymore. What am I going to do?

"Edward!" Alice exclaimed, breaking me out of my trance. "Stop worrying, everything's going to be fine."

"But what if it isn't Alice, what if she doesn't want me anymore?"

Suddenly, Alice started giggling. That's right. I'm panicking about the love of my existence not wanting me anymore, and my sister is laughing.

"What is funny about this Alice?" I demanded.

"Edward it's just that-," she said in between giggles. "It's just that, did you see the way she looked at you when she was being Claire? Edward, she's still completely in love with you."

"Really?" I asked amazed. I found that I couldn't help but let the hope fill me.

She smiled and nodded. "Your such a worry wart Edward," she said with a grin plastered on her face.

I gave a quick smile before turning my head to gaze out the window, and let my thoughts of Bella take me somewhere else…

**LPOV **(**Quick summery- I didn't want to write much in Liz's point of view, I feel all icky now, lol)**

The first thing I did when I got to Volterra was find the Volturi castle. I was sure that Bella would go back there, crying home to her 'family' about what happened. Pathetic. Anyways, sure enough I saw her in her room, doing absolutely nothing but stare at that ceiling like a retard. I sighed. She obviously was not going anywhere and I couldn't do anything until the morning. So I lied down in the woods, my eyes never leaving her, and staked out the whole night.

The next morning I saw her leaving with others members of that stupid Volturi. I silently followed them. It was incredibly boring, watching them go around from shop to shop. I was looking for dirt against her to use to get Edward to get over her. However my patience was deeply tested. Until that night where she met Brian. The moment he introduced himself I instantly perked up. _This could be the thing that destroys her… _I followed them into the garden, writing down their conversations and taking secret pictures of them, smiling the whole time. This was perfect, she had moved on. Now all I needed to do was get the one picture that would forever ruin her relationship with Edward and then he would be mine.

The next morning I saw Bella going out to meet Brian and followed. They were both wearing riding britches and it looked like they were going on an actual date. I gave a dark chuckle at this and continued to follow them. My heart soared when I saw that they were going on an outing alone and, as always, I followed them. My heart only continued to soar when I saw that they had stopped for a picnic. Then the most wonderful thing happened. Bella tripped and landed on Brian in a scandalous manner. This was the moment I had been waiting for. I aimed my camera and pressed down on the button that would seal my fate with Edward.

**BPOV**

The cameras were blinding as I stepped out of the safety of my limo. Luckily, I had my mask on and none of the paparazzi were able to recognize me. I smiled hugely because of this and met Aro and Heidi at the top of the stairs. We smiled, acknowledging each other before heading into the Duchess's small castle. Inside our coats were taken and we had come to another grand staircase leading down to the ballroom. Before I headed down I scanned the room for Brian. I was trying to catch his scent, but there were too many people to distinguish _anyone's _scent. Shrugging it off, I continued to proceed down the stairs.

**APOV**

My plan was brilliant!! I was so excited for tonight I could barely contain myself, receiving some very annoyed glares from Edward by the way, but I could care less. I had the most brilliant idea of how to get Bella and Edward back together on the plane ride.

After Bella left, Jasper told me everything that Bella was feeling. He said that she was still so in love with Edward that he could feel it from inside the house, but that that love was equal to the amount of fear she felt. He also felt a variety of other emotions like confusion, shock, desperation and panic but the main emotion was love and fear.

Personally, I had no idea why she was so scared. I mean she was fearless when we could actually kill her but when she's indestructible she's scared out of her wits? Typical Bella… However, I knew that she still loved him and that was one of the only reasons I _let_ and _encouraged _Edward to go. Don't get me wrong, I would adore seeing them together again, but I didn't want Edward to chase a girl who would just run the other way.

I wanted to be sure that Edward wouldn't get his heart broken again. So, I set out a plan. From what I learned from Bella's last reaction to Edward, I've decided to re-introduce Edward at a masquerade ball, where they wouldn't be able to recognize each other. We were going to take it slow and gain Bella's trust back, but here's the twist. Bella is not going to know Edward is the one she's talking to. He will make up a name and a cover and make Bella fall in love with him again through letters and conversation before showing himself to her. I figures that this way, they wouldn't have that awkward 'You left me,' feeling hanging around them and they can get to really know each other again without pressure. Oh, my plan is so great! And the ball tonight will set it all into action.

**EPOV**

_Alice's plan was insane_, I thought to myself starring at the ceiling above my bed. How the heck was I going to make Bella fall for a complete stranger? _Much less a jerk like me who left her._ Oh this was so confusing! And how am I going to keep my identity secret? She'll recognize my voice, my eyes, and my smell, everything about me except half my face. I mean really, what could one little mask do?

"Edward!" Alice called from across our suite. "_Come and meet me in the bathroom! I have to get you ready for tonight!' _she thought.

"Alice, I'm perfectly capable of preparing myself for this ball, now can you please leave me alone?"

"_Nope! I don't trust you to get ready yourself. Besides, would you take the joy out of your sister by refusing to let her clean you up for your first meeting with Bella as 'Anthony?' I don't think so."_

"Alice, I'm not a girl! I don't need nor _want_ you _primping_ me!" I exclaimed.

"Edward, do _you_ know how to dye your hair?" Alice exclaimed.

"What? No! Why am I dying my hair!?" I exclaimed. I really didn't want to change my hair color; after all I've had it for over a decade.

"Well then you're going to need me," Alice said, suddenly leaning against my door, with a bottle of dye in her hands, smiling evilly.

I gulped.

"Oh, come on Edward! It's not permanent! And it's just so that Bella won't recognize you tonight. You can take it off as soon as we get back. But I mean how many people have messy bronze hair like you?" she reasoned, pulling me into the bathroom.

Fifteen minutes later with a pair of blue contacts and an unhealthy amount of chemicals in my once bronze hair, I emerged from the bathroom, running to the mirror. It was amazing. Alice made me look like a whole new person. My hair was now a deep chocolate brunette that had a messy yet well-kept look to it. My eyes were a bright, clear blue and because of the golden flakes that I had, they came out to be silver with the contacts. I looked unrecognizable to anyone but myself as Edward Cullen. I was now Anthony Landon. _Oh god…this should be interesting._

**Liz POV**

How will I do this…I could show Edward the picture, and…and what? He would accept it or not, both of those not giving me _anything._ Who was to say he would crawl back to me even if he did accept it? No, I couldn't just show him the picture; I had to do something to make him fall for me…Wait! I have the perfect plot; all I need is the help of a certain prince…ah. Bella has made this _all _too easy…

**BPOV**

I felt so out of place here. I didn't know what to do with myself at this extravagant ball, so I just resolved to sitting on one of the chairs. As I sat, I watched the smiling faces of those who were dancing before me, even watching some romance going on reminding me of my own heartbreak. I even saw this couple that were so in love that they seemed to glow and float on the dance floor. The way the man was looking at her made my heart long for Edward to look at me that way.

"Having fun I see," a voice next to me spoke.

I looked up to see a man. He was dressed in a simple tux and a simple black mask, but there was absolutely nothing simple about him. He had brown hair that looked messy and tousled in one moment, and the next it looked perfectly tame. Then his eyes, they were the most brilliant color blue I've ever seen that seemed like they had silver sparkles in them.

"Y-yeah, not really," I replied nervously with a small smile at the end.

"Oh, why is that?" he asked, looking sincerely interested.

I decided to make a joke instead of telling him the truth, which was that I was a 'pathetic-cowardly-heartbroken-girl-that-had-run-away-form-the-man-she-loved-and-is-now-envious-of-other-people's-love.'

"Oh, I was just watching the dance and wishing I could dance as gracefully as some out there can," I replied, which was actually true.

"You know," the man said while leaning in closer to be, to which I did not object, "the dancing is all in the leading."

"I've heard that once or twice before," I said with a smile. "But how can one lead if their

partner is on their feet the majority of the dance?" I questioned smartly.

"We'll just have to find the answer to that one, won't we?" he said, offering his hand out. "May I have this dance?" he questioned with a bow and a heartbreaking smile.

"You may, although you dance at your own risk," I replied, taking his hand and receiving a laugh from him.

The stranger lead me out to the dance floor and the music began. At first I was very worried about my feet but then I realized that this man was right. It was all in the leading. Soon we were gliding around, effortlessly through the dance. Only then did I dare to talk at the same time.

"So, Mr. It's-all-in-the-leading, do you have a name?"

"Yes, Ms. Dance-at-your-own-risk, it's Anthony Landon. You?"

"Now, now, isn't the point of a masquerade ball to conceal your identity?"

"Well, I suppose but I've already revealed mine to you, so that means that you have to do the same," Anthony remarked.

"Ah, but you were foolish enough to do so," I teased. "But if you really _must_ know, it's Isabella Volturi, but you can call me Isabel if you wish. Most people call me Bella, but I'd rather not be called that anymore for certain reasons, " I explained.

"Isabel…got it," he said with a smile. "Wait, Isabella Volturi, as in Lady Isabella?"

"Yes," I replied, gazing into his eyes for a second.

The song ended and we parted ways, for a short while. Anthony had said something about checking on his younger sister and we promised each other another dance later on in the evening. One that I was definitely looking forward to.

** Okay, you guys know the drill. PLEASE review, they make me happy! :D**


	12. Chapter 11: Anthony

**Hey everyone!! I AM SOOOOOOO SORRY I HAVN'T UPDATED IN LIKE, A MONTH!! Ugh, I had break and then some guy drama so…I was a little uninspired. Anyways here you guys are and I got a beta reader!! Edwardjustproposed is now The New Cullen's official beta reader. Unfortunately I wasn't able to contact her and I really wanted to post this ASAP because it's been so long but forgive me for the errors!! Sorry edwardjustproposed if your reading this but I tried e-mailing you a week ago and I didn't get any reply. Also some people have been asking me to update so I figured I should just post this. Sorry!!**

Chapter 11: Anthony

**EPOV**

As soon as I left my angel I went in search of Alice. She was coaching me through my little emotional roller coaster of just seeing Bella or Isabel again. She was the whole reason I was able to find my Bella in the first place. Everyone's scent had been jumbled up and I couldn't pin her down exactly. Alice was the one that recognized her dress from her vision and literally shoved me towards her. I listened around the room for Alice's thoughts, with great difficulty though considering the size of the party.

"_I hope he likes my dress…"_

_"I wonder where she went?"_

_"He doesn't notice me at all…"_

_"She looks so beautiful tonight…"_

_"Like, doh my god! That bitch is wearing the same dress as me! How dare her! Now what can I do to ruin it..." _

_"Where's that dreamy guy with the blue eyes? So what if I'm engaged? He's HOT!"_

_"Edward! I'm by the grand staircase!" _Alice's thought saved me from the incessant and mindless thoughts bothering me and I happily tuned them out. I found Alice waiting for me, exactly where she said she was going to be, marveling at the different dresses the other ladies wore. She herself was in a designer (of course) bright blue ball gown that flowed when she walked, adding nothing but grace o her already effortless appearance. Her hair was up in a bun with curls sticking out from it and a white mask.

"There you are!" she exclaimed, advancing towards me. "You did great!"

"I don't really know Alice, I mean, how can she fall for a jerk like me-,"

"Edward! OMG how many times are we going to have to go over this! You're not a jerk and Bella _is _going to fall for you. I mean, she can't help it, you two are soul mates, no matter who you each pretend to be."

I simply nodded and looked at the dancers for a moment, remembering my promise to Isabel.

"Go on then," Alice encouraged, giving me another push into the dancers, and hopefully into the presence of my Bella.

**BPOV (IPOV) Whatever, this girl has so many multiple personalities! But I guess that's my fault…hehehe opps….**

Blue eyes and dark brunette hair. _Sigh. _Anthony Landon had only talked to me for a bout three minutes and he was already the only thing on my mind.

_No! This is wrong! You can't, you love Edward!_

_**But Edward doesn't love you back so what's the point?**_

_You'd be betraying him!_

_**He betrayed you too! **_

The angel and the devil argued on my shoulders. This was so…wrong. How could I fall for this guy? How could I ever even _think _about it when I was still uncontrollably in love with Edward? Ugh, I need to get this off my head. Speaking of distractions, where the heck is Brian?

**Brian POV**

_Where on earth was Bella? _I thought to myself as I scanned the floor for her. I wanted desperately to see her face again. I'll admit it, I was head over heels in love with her. I was ever since the first moment I saw her in Alaska but I never even dared to get close to her when she had Edward. I never understood why she loved him, after all he did to her. But now, now was different. Edward was out of the picture it was just she and I now. I sighed again, picturing her beautiful sweet face. I was sitting in one of the many decorative chairs surrounding the ballroom, hoping to get a glimpse of her amidst all the people. Endless dancers glided in front of me, their brightly colored dresses twirling around everywhere, distracting me quite a bit. Suddenly, the dancers in front of me moved for a brief moment, and I saw my Bella. But wait…there was a man dancing with her. They seemed to be lost in each other's eyes and I knew immediately that I had competition. I was so lost in my seething and fuming over them that when I received a cold tap on my shoulder, I jumped in surprise. Almost the spitting image of Bella was staring back at me, although this women was definitely lacking Bella's softness…she had an…demanding and powerful look on her face. I couldn't help it and suddenly, I was drawn into her.

"Hello Prince Brian, I have a deal to make with you," she spoke sweetly yet with a hinge of danger to it. Unable to do anything, I nodded and followed her into a dark room.

**IPOV (Bella's)**

Here I was, still sitting in this chair, once again watching the other couples. _I am really starting to get pathetic..._ I thought with a sigh. I thought of Anthony again and his unusual blue eyes with the silver flecks in them and once again found myself getting lost.

"Still enjoying the party I see," Anthony's voice sounded from behind me, snapping me out of my trance and putting a smile on my face.

"Yes I am," I replied turning back to him. _Now that you're here…_

_Edward, Edward, Edward!!_

_**Anthony, Anthony, Anthony!!**_

"Care for another dance?" he said, offering his hand to me and flashing a heartbreaking smile.

"Sure," I replied, taking his waiting hand.

We both glided onto the dance floor and I found myself lost in his eyes again.

"So… Are you and Prince Brian, umm, together?" Anthony asked after a while, very hesitantly.

"What?! Oh, god no. He's just a friend," I explained quickly, his face seemed to relax.

"I'm assuming you read the article?"

"No, no I just heard about it in passing," he explained. "I would never read that GossipGirl garbage, but when your name was involved I couldn't help but be curious."

"Why would you be curious?" I asked confused.

He laughed an enchanting laugh and his eyes were dazzling me as he said, "Because it was about _you._"

I couldn't help but blush and I looked down at my feet, which were for the moment on Anthony's. When I dared to look up, I found his eyes staring at my own when suddenly a drunk couple bumped into us, breaking the trance. After steadying ourselves, Anthony asked, "Do you want to go outside?" With pleading dazzling eyes, how could I refuse? I let him lead me outside to a giant balcony, overlooking the ocean. We were both silent for a moment, staring out at the distant waves before I broke the silence.

"So Anthony, tell me more about you."

"Okay, what would you like to know?"

"Well…I don't really know, anything really…. Like, what brings you to Italy?"

"I'm visiting some friends, and my sister dragged me to this party."

"Oh, little sister?"

"Yeah," he answered.

"I know the feeling," I told him, thinking about Alice and Jane. "I have one at home too who made me come here but she's too young to come, thank god."

He laughed a musical laugh and sent me a crooked smile that sent chills down my spine, reminding me of Edward.

"So, you said you're visiting. Are you planning to stay long?" I asked, curious.

"No, in fact we're leaving after this party. We have a big family back home and it would just be too hard to stay for long. Besides, if I have to spend anymore 'brother, sister alone time' with my sister Mary, I think I'll die," he joked, making it my turn to laugh.

"Oh, that's too bad," I said after, realizing that this would probably be the last time I would ever see this beautiful stranger again.

Suddenly, the orchestra started playing this wonderful waltz, one of my favorites, making me perk up a little and tapping my foot along with the music. Anthony quickly caught and turned to ask me, "Would you care to dance?" his beautiful blue eyes twinkling in the moon.

"Yes, I actually would, I replied taking his hand and we started dancing. We immediately got lost in each other's eyes. Anthony looked so handsome with the moonlight illuminating his perfect face. It seamed like a scene from a fairy tale.

I don't know how long we stayed like that, just looking into each other's eyes and getting lost. Before I knew it, realized his face was getting closer and closer to mine. As if in a trance I started to lean in to when I smelled it. Just the tiniest hint of Edward's smell, broke me out of my trance and had me stumbling backward, out of Anthony's arms. I whirled around, looking for him. But he wasn't here, and I knew it. It was just my mind playing tricks on me. _Wait; if I hadn't smelled Edward I would have kissed Anthony! Oh dear, I think it's time to leave before I get another heartbreak… _

"What's wrong Isabel?" Anthony asked, with a slight look of pain in his eyes from my obvious rejection.

"N-nothing Anthony it's just well…I don't think I can be anything more than friends with you. I'm not ready for another relationship, and I don't think I will be for a very long time. I'm so sorry."

I watched his face fall and he hung his head before looking back up at me with a halfhearted smile.

"Alright, I understand. But, do you think we could keep in touch and be friends then?" He asked hopefully.

I smiled.

"Absolutely! I'm just not ready for all of this. But here's my number," I said, offering him a little slip of paper with my chicken scratch handwriting on it. In return I received a slip of paper from him with nearly flawless writing with his number on it.

"Thanks Isabel. So…call you?"

"Anytime."

And with that we parted ways.

**LPOV**

Brian and I quickly left the ball after I told him about my plan. It was perfect. Now all I needed to do was learn how to control the powers that I take, then Edward would be all mine…

A very exhausted Brian lay on the ground panting and wheezing from my practicing.

"Oh, suck it up you big baby. If the plan is going to work, then I need to be able to control Bella's power! You do want this to work right?" I questioned him.

He managed a nod and crawled back on his feet with the help of the wall.

"Okay, I want the plan to work but, pant, pant can't we take a break? We've been doing this for hours now!" he complained.

"Shut up and deal with it. Just think, soon Bella will be all yours. You won't ever have to worry about Edward getting in the way again," I explained to him, using my persuasive vampire skills on him.

He just nodded and braced himself. I concentrated on him. My powers were working on him as he started to crumble in exhaustion. However instead of just letting his power slip away with his strength, I gathered it together and thrust it into myself. The power surged through me, illuminating every part of my body. I allowed it to consume me before opening my eyes again. Brian lay on the floor, to tired to move. But really, who cared? Instead I ran to the nearest mirror and focused on making myself human. To my delight and surprise, when I opened my eyes, the blue eyes and blonde haired human me gazed back at me. I had done it, and now all we had to do was wait.

**EPOV **

_"Just friends?" _I thought angrily to myself. _"You idiot, you really screwed things up! You must be such a complete jerk for her to reject you like that…twice! You weren't even yourself tonight, and she still doesn't want you! She's way too good for me. I should have never left her. Idiot, idiot idi-_

_"Edward! Could you __**please**__ stop banging your head against the chair! The people in front of us are getting kind of angry," Alice's thoughts interrupted mine. _

I fell back in my seat, sighing heavily before I resumed the process with my hand.

"Edward!" Alice's voice cried, knocking me out of my trance. _" You really have to stop beating yourself up over this! She said she wasn't ready for a relationship, and it's true. I could tell, she really isn't. She wasn't rejecting you its just well…she can't handle this right now."_

"But Alice, how could she not reject me, I mean she's so…wonderful. While I'm just so…" I left off with a sigh.

"You know what Edward?! I'm getting really sick of your low self-esteem and your 'emo-ish' habits okay? Can't you just except that she likes you? Why is it so hard to believe?" Alice exclaimed angrily.

"Alice, how could _anyone_ like me after what I did to her? That is what makes it so hard because she is this amazing, beautiful, compassionate creature. And I don't deserve her."

"Edward, Edward, Edward…" Alice started, shaking her head side to side slowly. Then she grabbed my head and forced it to look towards her. I tried to avert my gaze only earning an angry "Look at me Edward," from her.

"This is the last time I am going to say this. _She likes you!_ And you _do _deserve her. And you are _not _a horrible person. Okay?"

I could only nod at that and sat quietly in my seat for the rest of the ride home, away from my Bella once again.

**BPOV**

The rain poured down relentlessly against the soft, green earth outside my window, encouraging me to stay indoors today. I was curled up in one of my favorite places in the castle. The window seat was located in the Volturi Library and overlooked the garden and the distance purple mountains. It was truly a place of peace, which was just what I needed after last night.

"BELLA!!" Jane's voice exclaimed.

Okay, place of peace…until now.

"Bella!" Jane's jubilantly exclaimed as her head popped around the corner, finding me in my hiding place. "I was looking everywhere for you!"

"Well…you found me," I said a little bitterly but still teasingly towards her. She pretend to scowl at me before seating herself next to me, her still golden eyes staring wide eyed at me.

"So, tell me what happened!"

"What?" I asked confused.

"Ugh, Bella! Tell me what happened at the ball!"

"Well… I heard that Miss Stanley was seen flirting with another man who she 'thought' was her fiancé," I said nonchalantly.

"Really?" Jane said laughing. "I'm not really surprised. She is always flirting. But anyways, that's not what I meant. Heidi told me all about you're little romantic moonlit dance."

"Oh, s-she saw that?" I asked.

"Of course! She saw the whole thing, from the minute you met to the minute he left. She said he's quite handsome, is it true?"

I sighed, there was no hope in denying it. Once Jane knows you'll never find peace until you tell her the truth. I was going to have a word with Heidi later…

"Yes, he is."

"Oh, do tell," Jane said excitedly.

"Alright, I couldn't really see with the mask on he had chocolate brown hair and his eyes…oh his eyes were this brilliant blue, with silver specks in them."

"Nice!" Jane cried.

"Yes," I said dreamily.

"So, what happened?"

"Nothing really, we just danced and talked, then went outside to dance because it was so loud in the ballroom."

"And you danced on the balcony in the moonlight, oh how _romantic,_" Jane said dreamily.

"Yeah, I supposed, but he's gone now."

"_What?!"_

"He has a big family back in America and he and his sister were only visiting so, he left this morning…"

"That sucks…is there anyway you can contact him?"

"Yeah, he gave me his phone number, but I'm not sure if I-"

Before I could finish my sentence, Jane reached over to my phone that was lying comfortably in my lap, and snatched it before furiously pressing keys. I didn't need vampire hearing for my ears to pick up his Debussy ring back. Jane grinned evilly then quickly handed the phone to me. It was too late to hang up now and I scowled at Jane who just stuck her tongue out at me in return.

**JPOV**

"Hello?" A voice answered.

"Anthony?" Bella asked shyly.

"Yes?"

"Um, hi this is Isabella Volturi," she squeaked.

"Oh hey! I was actually _just _about to call you," he said with a laugh.

"Oh really? That's funny," she said with a giggle, making me roll my eyes a little.

"So what's up?"

"Nothing much," she replied, walking away from me and starting an aimless path through the library, giving me a warning look to not follow. I chuckled and beam. And so, it begins…

**Review if you've given your heart to Edward!! :D**


	13. Chapter 12: Oh my God

Chapter 12: Oh my God

**I'M BACK!! BE EXCITED!! Og my god, it feels SO good to have a working computer!! I'm SO sorry for the delay, but here's chapter twelve. Enjoy!**

**Sorry again. **

Chapter 12: Oh my God

**BPOV**

The next few weeks were wonderful. Anthony and I did nothing but talk to each other through emails and phone calls. I talked to him so much in fact, that it was getting harder and harder to believe that he was actually still in America, much to my dismay. In fact his correspondence was so constant and reliable that I began to fear them. Over the past few weeks I started to know Anthony more and more. So much in fact, that I might actually be starting to fall in love with him, which is scary. I don't know how to explain this but it seems that all I could think about was 'him'. And whenever my phone rang or the always faithful 'You've got mail' message was displayed, my heart beat substantially increased. But this was bad, this was _so_ bad. I _couldn't _be falling for Anthony because that would mean that I had stopped loving Edward, which was a very scary thought. Is it possible to love two people? I mean when Jacob was still n the picture, I loved him, but like a brother. How could I be in love with Edward and Anthony at the same time? Even though deep down in my heart I knew I had to let Edward go, I just couldn't. I would always love Edward, that I was certain, even though he didn't love me in return. 

**New text message from Anthony**

The message blared across my phone screen as usual. Without a second thought I opened up my phone, eager to read it.

**Guess what? My whole family has decided to spend the next two weeks in Italy **

_No way! That's awesome, you can come visit lol _I texted back.

**Yea, we r leaving 5 am 2morrow so we should be there round 5 pm that day.**

(**AN, I don't know how long it takes to get to Italy so let's just say 12 hours)**

_Great, I can't wait :D I'll pick you guys up from the airport._

**Thx but we already hired someone. want to catch up afterwards?**

_Sure, but rnt you going to be tired?_

**Oh, it's ok. I dn't sleep much anyways lol**

_Ok lol, meet me at the Volturi castle. I would love to give you a tour and then maybe we could catch dinner afterwards._

**Okay sounds great :D g2g, I still haven't packed 4 Italy yet lol**

_Go pack!! I'll see you tomorrow._

**Okay, can't wait**

I closed my phone, smiling and fell backwards on to my bed, the huge grin still plastered against my face, where it remained until I fell asleep that night.

I nearly jumped out of bed that morning. I don't know how I managed to sleep last night. I ran vampire speed through my morning routine. Brushing my hair and my teeth at the same time and actually letting Jane put some make-up on me. I quickly got dressed with a simple' jeans and a t-shirt,' and a little necklace. I looked at my watch. 11:00 am. Ugh! Six more hours, I groaned to myself. I collapsed on my bed, staring at the ceiling, desperately thinking of things to keep me busy. I first decided to clean my room at human speed. My room wasn't really messy so I finished pretty quickly. I looked at my watch 11:15. I sighed heavily and decided to call Brian.

"Hey Bella!" Brian's voice came from the other line after two short rings.

"Hey Brian, just calling to see how things are doing with you, haven't heard from you in a while."

"Oh well, umm I've been umm busy lately. You know how it gets," he said the last part cheerfully but I had a feeling he wasn't telling me something. I shrugged it off.

"Yeah, I know all about it trust me," I said with a laugh.

"So what are you doing today?"

"Oh, I'm meeting up with someone I met at the last ball. We're going out for dinner, probably at La Bella Italia. I'm really excited because I really like him," I said, confessing the truth to Brian. He was a good friend and I knew I felt I could trust him.

"Oh, the umm the man you were dancing with? Brown hair, blue eyes?" Brian asked.

"Yeah that's him! Do you know him?"

"Oh, um no. I just saw you dancing with him."

"Oh…so what's on the Prince of England's busy schedule for today?"

"Oh, um nothing just meeting up with someone."

"Oh, sounds cool. I won't keep you any longer. Just call me because we have to hang out sometime."

"Sure thing Bells, see ya," he said and the line went dead. I sighed and fell back onto my bed before looking at my watch. 11:30. Perfect…

**EPOV**

The plane ride was miserable. I was seriously debating jumping out of the window and swimming to Italy, thinking it would go faster.

"_Edward don't you dare jump out, it will be longer than if you would just sit still!" _Alice's thoughts came into my mind and I smiled.

My dead heart was beating a hundred miles an hour. Just the thought of being able to see my Bella again tonight made it jump out of my chest. Of course it would be as _Anthony _because I was too much of a coward to be with Bella and facing the possibility of her looking at me with that great look of fear frozen in her eyes. One of my biggest fears was having Bella fear me. I stared at the window, searching in vain for a distraction from my thoughts. My family and I are all staying in Italy for two weeks. The plan is for me to get Bella back at the end of that time and then show her who I really am. Something I was dreading deeply. What would her reaction be? Would she be afraid of me like last time? Would she completely reject me and wish to never see me again? I shuddered at the thought. Never the less I shoved the thought back into my head and sighed. Two weeks. Two weeks to make Bella fall in love with Anthony. Two weeks until the moment that will decide the way I live my life for the rest of eternity.

………………..

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, Bella said he'd be there for two weeks. He's probably planning on reveling himself then."

"Okay, good job. We'll strike in two weeks then."

"Mhmm. Just two more weeks from now and Bella will be mine."

"And two weeks from now Edward will be mine."

"Until then."

I hung up the phone. Two more weeks Bella, two more weeks until we can be together.

………………

**BPOV**

My dead heart was pounding out of my chest as the silver car pulled up, the seemingly never-ending driveway. The beating accelerated the closer the car came to me until finally it stopped. The door opened and out stepped Anthony. His pale skin seemed to shine like moonlight in the dark and his ice blue eyes twinkled like stars. He smiled at me and I felt my heart skip a beat. The way it used to with Edward. God, he even smelled like Edward too. I breathed it in greedily.

"Hello Isabel," his voice flowed like water.

"Hello Anthony, it's so good to see you again," I said with a smile.

"Not as good as it is to see you," he replied sweetly, making me blush a little.

"So would you like a tour of the palace, or would you just want to go straight to dinner?"

"Oh, I completely forgot about the tour, I would love to but I made these 6:00 reservations," he answered, slapping himself on the head and beating himself up.

"Well Anthony, being Lady Isabella does have it's perks, we can go whenever you'd like," I answered with a smile.

"Really? Okay then I would love a tour," he answered with a heartbreaking crooked smile. I forced myself to look away before my mind could think.

I took him around the upper three levels of the castle, which were by far the nicest. The rooms were all lavishly decorated, rich, grand painting hung on every wall and countless works of art lined the hallways. The lower levels of the castle were strictly forbidden to visitors because that is where the Volturi headquarters are. Also a stable full of animals for out new 'diet.' People would get suspicious if they found out we kept a large amount of bears and deer in our basement. Anthony was quiet, seeming to be in deep thought at the beginning. However he quickly recovered and we started talking conversationally. Nothing personal just the usual; "How was you trip? Good, how have you been? Good" stuff. Finally, I took him the library.

"Wow, you guys certainly have a big collection. Good stuff too," he said, trailing his fingers along some of the classics.

"Thank you," I said joining him by the classics section, my favorite. "When I first came here, there were no books. Well, no books worth reading, so I took it upon myself to get all of these," I said, waving my hand around.

"You picked all these books out?" he asked, softness visible in his blue eyes. I instantly had a flashback of Edward and the way he used to look at me, all those years ago…

"Yeah," I reply weakly, avoiding his glance and wandering around to the next aisle. He pulled out a book and I could see him through the gap, he was smiling.

"Ah, Wuthering Heights…" he said with a smile, glancing down at the book. "One of my favorites," he spoke, his voice light and turned his glance back towards me.

"Really?" I asked taken back. "Good choice. I have to confess that it is one of my favorites."

He smiled one of those 'too much like Edward' smiles at me and I forced a weak smile.

"Are you hungry?" he asked suddenly.

"No not really," I confessed. "But if you are then I wouldn't mind at all going to dinner," I quickly added.

"No, I'm not hungry either, that's why I was asking you," he said with a laugh.

"Why don't we go for a walk?"

"Sure!" I answered too quickly and enthusiastically, making me blush a deep red.

He laughed and before I knew it, my hand was in his and we were heading out the door, into the night.

**EPOV**

Oh, it felt so good to have my Bella's hand in mine again. The smooth softness of her skin against mine felt like magic. During the tour I had memorized the layout of the palace and quickly found the exit. No matter how nice it was, I would never forget the events that took place there, and I wanted to get out as quick as possible.

"Anthony, where are we doing?" Bella asked as we stepped out into the night.

"You'll see," I replied mysteriously with a smile on my face.

I opened the door to my car for Bella and she shyly stepped in. Soon as she was in I closed the door and all but flew to my side of the car. After about two minutes Bella asked, "Seriously Anthony, where are we going?"

"You'll just have to wait and see, we should be there soon anyways, it's not very far from the palace."

"Then why are you going 80 miles an hour on a local road!" she exclaimed, looking at the speedometer.

"Oh, sorry old habit," I said flashing her one of my crooked smiles, bringing the speed down to an itching 65 mph.

"Gosh, you remind me of my ex…" she trailed off.

"Is that a good thing?" I asked in a light tone with seriousness behind my words.

"I'm really not sure…" she replied quietly and looked out the window, making me, for about the thousandth time wish I could read her mind.

Five minutes later we had arrived at our destination. Before I had gone to the Volturi to ask for my extermination, I had found this place. It was so beautiful and I remember at the time, wishing with all my heart that Bella could have seen this place. I quickly got out of the car and opened the door for Bella before she could get her seat belt undone. I grabbed her hand and pulled her out to the woods.

"Where are we going?" she demanded, now a little scared, which was understandable I guess. I mean she had only known me for a month and seen me only twice, and now here I was leading her out to the woods. But then again, she was a vampire and she could take care of herself, so her fear must have been coming from a distrust of me. I sadden at the idea.

"Don't worry, I just want to take you to this place I found the last time I was in Italy, it's worth the little hike trust me," I said as I stepped over a fallen tree limb. The smell and sound of water soon filled my ears and I picked up my pace. Bella easily followed along, without much tripping to my surprise. We finally came to a clearing and I took her hand and pulled her along gently. And there it was, just as I remembered it. As if made purposely, various rocks of different sizes form perfect stairs. Moss grew between them to keep them solid and together. A series of gentle, small, calm waterfalls gracefully fell down the 'stairs.' The water tumbled down, laughing the whole way, before reaching the quiet, solid looking lake. The liquid perfectly reflected the starlit sky, making the water looks as if it were ablaze by millions of tiny stars. An ancient weeping willow stood at the waters edge, it's branches touching the waters surface, making it ripple with every moment. Fireflies quietly danced around, truly making it look like something straight out of a storybook. I heard Bella gasp behind me and she quickly raced past me to the waters edge where she stopped and took everything in. I watched her the whole time. She looked even more beautiful than when she was human, if that's possible. Her eyes still had that same soft, kind look in them, she still smelled exactly the same right down to the strawberry shampoo and her face was still just as beautiful as ever. Could there ever be a creature in all of time that could rival her beauty? I wondered to myself, but quickly deemed it impossible. There would never, ever be anyone as beautiful as her. I joined her by the waters edge and merely looked on with her, stealing secret glances at her.

"It's so beautiful…"she whispered, her voice making my heart flutter inside my chest.

"That it most certainly is," I replied looking straight at her. "Just like you," I whispered shyly.

She blushed a deep red and turned away from me. "Please don't hide you face," I said quietly, going to touch her face, very shyly. The minute our skin touched, she recoiled. I could feel the hurt on my face.

"I'm…I'm sorry it's just that, it reminds me so much of Edward…" she said my name with a tear forming at her blue eyes.

"Oh, no Isabel, please don't cry, I'm so sorry," I said desperately, gently touching her shoulder.

"No, it's…it's not you fault, it's mine really, I never got over him…"she trailed off, furiously wiping the tears from her eyes.

"Do you want to talk about it?" I offered.

"There's nothing to talk about. He never loved me. He said it himself then left me," she sobbed, and then I truly felt my heart disintegrate into a million different pieces, all equally hurting. I had done this. All of it, I had single handedly hurt, no, _destroyed_ the most beautiful thing that will ever walk this planet. I looked at her again. Even if she was a vampire, she was more fragile now than ever, as if one word could break her. I very carefully wrapped my arms around her and she buried her face into my shoulder and cried. It was a bittersweet moment. Here she was, in my arms again, her face buried into me as she cried, cried from the pain I had caused her. I slowly stroked her back.

"I'm so sorry Isabel," I nearly sobbed too.

"Why are you apologizing? It's not your fault…"she mumbled in my chest.

"I mean, I'm sorry this happened to you, so sorry. Edward's a complete idiot and I'm sure he's regretting it as we speak," I said, empathizing the idiot part. It was true, but idiot didn't even begin to cover what a _monster _I was. That was it. _Monster. _That was what I truly was.

"I don't think so…"she mumbled. "He said himself that I was just some… 'distraction,' he never loved me," she sobbed again.

I didn't know how to answer that without totally blowing my cover. Instinctively, I drew her in closer to me. Rubbing her back and tentatively putting my head on her shoulder. She instantly reacted too and clung herself to me more, burying her head in my chest. God, did it feel good to have her in my arms again. It just felt so _right_, like two misplaced puzzle pieces finally coming together. After a few minutes Bella started to quiet her sobs and pull away from me. She looked terrible, her eyes were puffy from the crying and her face was washed out, except for the unmistakable red blush on her cheeks.

"I'm sorry you had to see that…I don't know what came over me and I just…" she trailed off.

I put my finger to her soft lips to silence her but as soon as we touched, an unmistakable force overwhelmed the both of us. Time froze and nothing but Bella and I existed. The air became heavy and static swarmed around us. I was lost in her eyes. Her sweet, caring, warm eyes, that had seen so much pain because I me. I became so lost in fact that I didn't feel myself getting closer, and closer to her. Leaning my head in towards her. I finally did notice when she started to move in towards me to. Time slowed dramatically and it seemed like a lifetime until our lips finally touched.

The kiss was indescribable. It started out slow, both of us were savoring the sweet soft 'taste' of it, or at least I was. I instinctively put my hand on the side of her head, very gently. Lightly stroking her hair while doing so. She responded by putting her own fingers on my cheek, leaving blazes of fire wherever she touched. I knew she was being gentle with me because she thought I was a human. I could feel her fighting to restrain her lips. Suddenly her lips became frozen before she abruptly pulled back. She was staring at me with a bewildered expression on her face. It was petrified in fear and she was trembling. I looked into her eyes and they explained everything. They were stretched as wide as they could go. Tears were starting to form at the bottom of her eyes and wait…they were changing color. They were turning brown and it took me a moment to realize what was happening. She was turning from 'Lady Isabella' back into the human Bella I once knew. Everything right down to her exact human skin color was there, right in front of me, everything that I loved. The brown eyes bore into me, shattering my heart once again. I could see endlessly into them. I was drowning in them. Pain, and hurt, and fear, and sadness were drowning me and my heart felt as if it were going to burst.

"Oh my god…" she whispered so soft that _I_ had to strain to hear it. Then she turned right around and ran into the woods, and away from me again.

**BPOV**

_Holy crap. What…how, why?! Why was he here? Why was he pretending to be Anthony? Why was he with me? Why didn't I catch it before? The signs were all there, the smell, the instant spark I got when he touched me, the smoldering eyes, the trails of fire he left on my skin… _

The tears down my face turned from a tiny creek to a massive river. I felt as if pieces of my heart were crumbling, leaving the shattered fragments in the forest as I ran, leaving my heart with Edward. His kiss ripped through the stitches on my pain, opening up the wound all over again. It was just like one of my dreams I used to have. Seeing him there, _wanting me_, _loving _me before having to wake up and face reality all over again. The truth was that Edward wanted to be distracted. He did not love me, nor did he want me. He just wanted…well I didn't know what he wanted, certainly not me. Maybe a reminder of the past? I knew not of his reasons. All I knew was that I had to run. I had to get away from the one person that had enough of me as to crush me, once again, into dust.

I raced into the place. Ignoring the others as I flew to my room. I pack the essentials, clothes, money, passport, and phone. I quickly jotted down a note.

Dear family,

I'm so sorry. I can't stay here. _**He's**_found me and I have to leave. Please don't follow me. I don't know when or if I'll be back. I need to get away from him, and put myself back together again before he breaks me into even tinier pieces than I already am. Please, don't hurt him. I wouldn't want anything to happen to him. Ever. That means you Felix and Demetri, and _Jane. _I'm sure that I will always love him and will never be able to live if he did not exist. I thank you from the bottom of my broken heart for putting up with me all these years and for helping me through some of my darkest days. I'm afraid I'm going to have to fix this myself though. Again, thank you so, so much for all that you have done for me and I don't know how I could ever repay you. You truly are my family and I sincerely hope to see you all again.

Love,

Bells

**There it is!! I'm SO excited my internet is working again and that I can continue with this story!! Please, please, please review!!**


	14. Chapter 13: Running

Chapter Thirteen: Running

And so I ran. I made no stops other than to hunt, which I only did because it was easier than eating and was more 'diverting' than, say, grabbing a cheeseburger and actually having a moment to think. I did not sleep the entire time; my days were filled with endless occupation, whether it be running, hunting or simply trying not to get lost. I did not really have an idea where I was going. All I knew was that I wanted to get away.

From the southern coast of Italy, I traveled north, giving myself a new appearance for every province I passed through. I always made sure to look plain. A face people would see but not acknowledge. When I reached the border of Italy and Switzerland I continued to move north. I cut straight through the hardest mountain passes in the Alps and enjoyed the challenge of climbing up some of the great mountains. On one mountain I came to a great precipice. I stood out as far as I could and was breathless with the beauty of the valley before me. It seemed like something straight out of a fairytale book. There was a huge, mirror-like lake in the center of the valley that perfectly reflected the sky with more distant Alps in the background. There was something truly magical about it and I honestly wouldn't have been surprised if tinker bell had come and bopped me on the head, covering me in pixie dust. However my happiness was suddenly overcome with grief as I remembered that this was like our, no _his_ meadow. The place where it all began, where we had out first kiss, where I was changed… And without my knowing, tears became to fall from my eyes once again. That was when I had an idea. It couldn't hurt if I jumped off the cliff right? I was invincible. Besides I would probably land in the lake anyway. And even if I landed on the hard ground, nothing could ever hurt as much as I was hurting right now. Maybe the pain would distract me from my heartache… But it was just an idea; I would intentionally hurt myself, EW. I just wouldn't terribly mind if I did. God was I turning emo?

Before I could further question my sanity, I was backing up. When I was about fifty feet from the ledge, I ran. I ran until my feet no longer touched the ground. When I went off the ledge my stomach instantly dropped with the sensation you get from roller coasters. Only this was so much better. It felt like I was flying. It was amazing. The wind was pushing against me fiercely, as if trying to hold me up. I stretched my arms and legs out to make the fall longer. I pretended to swim in an effort to move around in the sky. The sensation was amazing, too amazing for words. I smile spread across my face as I remembered how skydivers used to go head first to increase their speeds. So I tired. Suddenly, it was not like flying, but truly like falling in an exhilarating way. Instead of feeling like the air would hold me up, it felt as if it were rushing past me, like rapids going around a rock in their way. As I approached the ground, I aimed for the water. When I was sure I would get into it, I curled my knees into my chest and tucked my head in. And so, the biggest cannon ball in history was made.

After that, I was exhausted. I couldn't push myself any longer and I knew that I had to sleep. I also knew of the nightmares that would surely accompany them. I picked a nice, sunny spot in the valley so I could dry off. I could smell nothing but clean air and the aroma of the mountain, so I knew no humans were around. So I dreadfully lied down and closed my eyes, letting the sun envelope me in its warmth.

_I was in the meadow. Our meadow. I was laying down in the sweet grass, letting the sun warm me. Suddenly, Edward was there. He was lying down on my right, propped on one arm, his head in his hand, and he was staring at me. His eyes were full of love, and happiness as he looked at me. He took a strand of my hair and became to play with it before taking his hand and starting to gently drawing circles on my cheeks. I smiled and blushed a deep rd as I always do and he did his famous, heartbreaking crocked smile. _

"_I love you," he whispered. "I will never, ever, leave you."_

_As soon as those words came from his sweet, soft lips, the scene changed. The meadow turned black, the flowers were dead, Edward was gone and everything was in black and white. I stood up; my eyes searched the clearing and found Edward leaning against one of the trees in the distance. His eyes were dark, and cold, completely unreadable with large purple bruises underneath. He stalked over towards me, shooting hatful glares at me as he came closer. _

"_Bella, we're leaving." _

"_Okay, I'll come with you."_

"_You can't. Bella. I don't want you to come with me."_

"_You…don't…want me?"_

"_No."_

The scene spiraled in my head, and disappeared, leaving me in complete darkness before I woke up with a jolt, crying once again. Ever since that faithful day when Edward had left me, I had not been able to tell the difference from a dream, and from a nightmare.

…

After Switzerland I cut through France headed towards Paris. I had never seen the wonderful city before and I thought that it couldn't hurt to stay for the night, just to clean up and have some human food maybe.

The city was wonderful. It was so full of life, and lights and…love. Okay, so maybe it was wonderfully painful. The city truly was gorgeous, but whenever I saw a couple (which was very often), I couldn't help but tear up. And so I moved on, after grabbing some pastries and bread though of course.

When I finally got to the coast of France I had another crazy idea. Why not swim to England? I couldn't get sick from the cold water, I could not tire, it wouldn't take me longer than half a day, and it would be challenging.

So, I stuffed the rest of my food in my face, stole an old wooden box no one was using, put my clothes into it, and tied it to myself with a rope. I bought myself a bathing suit and quickly changed into it. **(Read this if you think the wooden box thing made no sense. Okay, this might be confusing. It's hard to explain and it's actually really stupid. Bella found like a small wooden crate thing that closed up on all sides and put her clothes in that. Then she tied a rope around the box and tied the rope onto herself. It was the only thing I could come up with so yeah, lol. I mean she has no idea where she's going so she couldn't mail it or anything. So anyways, back to the story…)**

By the coast of France, the water was a deep blue, and was heavily filled with the stench of fish and very dirty, nothing like my lake in the Alps. The farther I got away from the coast, the colder and stronger the water became. The color was a dark blue, grayish color, with the occasional spot of green from seaweed. Once the water got fairly calm, I detached the box from me, and went under. I opened my eyes, ready to feel the burn of salt, but it never came. Water could not get into our eyes. I took a moment for my eyes to adjust to the water. Even though the water was clean, it was still a little cloudy, especially the bottom. In fact, I could not see the bottom. It was just an ominous, eerie, mystery. For all I knew there was an abyss underneath me. There really was no marine life, a few schools of fish but nothing exciting. When I had had enough I resurfaced. I had kept an eye on my provision box and found it quickly.

After another half and hour of swimming I had reached the coast. I headed towards a few of the towering rocks on the coast and dried myself of in the cover of them then changed after making sure no one was looking. I took my phone out of the box (which I had zip-lock) and dial a number.

"Hello?" The man's voice sounded through my ear, bringing a smile to my lips.

"Hey Brian it's Bella, listen I need a favor."

-

-

By the time I had arrived in London, I had gotten the stench of fish out of my body and had changed my appearance once again. I had called Brian and asked if I could stay with him for a couple of days until I sorted some things out. He happily agreed and said he could stay as long as I wanted. I had to pose as Lady Isabella again, much to my distaste.

Brian called a limo for me to be escorted into the palace. **(Okay people. I have never gone to Europe, and I have no idea what Buckingham palace looks like and I don't have Internet so I'm going to use my creativity…Oh boy. Please bear with me. By the way, it's Buckingham right? Omg I'm such a retard lol, sorry if that's the totally wrong name for it.)**

The palace before me was nothing what I expected. I had always thought it grand, when looking through it in pictures. However the word 'grand,' did the monumental structure before me no justice. The elegant architecture was breathtaking. Every little crevice had extraordinary detail in it. It reminded me of Mr. Darcy's home in the movie _Pride and Prejudice_, only ten times as opulent, and ten times as immense. I was simply awestruck by the time the limo had finally pulled up to the foot of the palace.

I was escorted and lead through the maze of endless hallways to the ballroom where Brian was waiting for me. After what seemed like an eternity, the maid finally stopped at two colossal oak doors.

"The Prince is waiting for you your ladyship," the maid said, keeping her head down and curtsying.

She opened the door for me and I smiled warmly and thanked her.

The open doors revealed a truly breath taking room. The room was massive. It could easily and comfortably fit the entire population of a big town high school. The floors were all marble, kept in pristine condition. The ceiling was dome shaped with a sunning chandelier, easily five feet in length, in the center. On the dome were beautiful moldings, and I could see every little detail that was put into them. Above them were sculptures of angels, actually coming out of the wall, flying towards the sun, which in this case was the chandelier. On the surrounding walls, the same molding was placed, along with various gold candleholders and beautiful paintings.

"Glorious isn't it?" A voice sounded from my right, snapping me out of my trance and startling me. I whirled around to see a smiling Brian.

"Oh Brian! You scarred me! But yes, the palace truly is ravishing. Every little detail I see is so tasteful. I don't think anyone could ever tire of seeing such beauty," I explained to him, looking awe-struck around the room again.

"I agree, anyone who can tire of Buckingham's beauty must truly be deranged," he said with a thoughtful look and softness in his eyes as he surveyed the room. He was wearing his official garment, with the little shoulder fringes and everything. He truly looked the part of a prince. His tall, lithe body shape and muscular arms fit the suit perfectly. His boyish looking face had a princely looking quality to it and his eyes danced with knowingness and kindness.

He saw me examining him and became a regular human again by becoming self-conscious.

"I know I must look absolutely ridiculous in this outfit, but I had just come from a very official boring meeting that requires me to wear this foolish garment," he explained.

"It' not ridiculous. In fact I find it rather _dashing_," I joked with a smile wide across my face.

"Well thank you Miss Volturi," he replied, playing along.

"Your quite welcome my lord," I said with a tiny curtsy.

I had a little balance trouble and became to topple over before I could catch myself. Brian laughed at my attempt.

"So Bella, what brings you to England? You were not very clear in your phone call on your reasons in coming here."

"Oh well um…my ex showed up the other day in town, and I just got, very scarred and confused so I ran away. I couldn't deal with it all. Anyways, I rather not talk about it but I just want to thank you so much for letting me stay here while I sort things out," I rambled to him.

"It's no problem Bella, I assure you. I'm happy to have you here and as for you ex well… I think it's good to step back sometimes and just take a look at things before you do anything so that you can make better decisions," he reasoned.

"Yes that's exactly it."

"Well in that case, you can stay as long as you'd like Bella."

"Thank you Brian, this is very kind of you," I said sincerely.

"So…I'm going to go change out of this ridiculous outfit, and you may freshen up if you'd like. I'll have a maid show you where your room is. When your done I'll meet you down here again at lets say, five-thirty? We can go out to dinner if you're in the mood for human food," he said with a smile.

"Human food sounds great."

"Oh, by the way, there are some dresses in your room. You'll probably want to change into them because the Queen is a little picky with attire," he explained nervously.

"Oh, no problem. After you've suffered in that, I think it only fair that I suffer a little bit too, just to balance out the scales," I joked.

"Oh, well thank you for your concern, now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go change as fast as I can. Lucy, can you please escort Lady Isabella to her room?" he asked one of the waiting maids who quickly came to my side. She curtsied at him then began to lead me through the maze of hallways again.

**BrPOV**

I couldn't get over it. This was too perfect. Bella was here. In my home, with me. It also looked like she was getting ready to finally give up on Edward. She just needed a little push in the right direction. After that, I could make her fall in love with _me. _We'd be the perfect couple. Powerful, beautiful, and immortal. Now I just had to make sure that Bella completely forgets about Edward, and falls in love with me. I quickly got out my phone and dialed the Liz's number.

"This had better be good," she answered in an insipid voice.

"Guess who just arrived at Buckingham," I teased.

"Who?" she asked, suddenly interested.

"Bella. Apparently she saw Edward in Italy and ran all the way here. She's trying to get over him now and she's staying here until she 'sorts things out.'"

"Perfect! She's weak and insecure right now. That means she'll be easy to break. I'm sure it will be the same case for Edward too. However, if we really want to crush them, we have to let them crush each other first. I have a great idea, but you're going to need to find out what exactly made Bella run away," she began, I could practically hear the wheels turning in her head.

"She ran away because she was scarred and confused. I don't think it was for any other reason," I reported.

"Okay well then…oh! That's perfect. He should come running after her. That annoying pixie will probably have a vision of Bella and send Edward here. He'll want to apologize and try to make her feel better, which he will. This is why we will be making our move before he gets the chance. Okay here's the plan…"

**BPOV**

My room was too wonderful for words. It reminded me of Daphne's room from 'What a girl wants' but only twice that size and twice as luxurious. It was lavishly decorated in blue. On the walls were an old, beautiful wallpaper with delicate blue flowers on them. The bottom half was white molding.

The bed was made with luxurious, silk and Egyptian cotton. The pillows and comforter were all made of pure down. The bed itself was painted in a brilliant white; again, the same moldings that occurred on the walls appeared on the head and footboard.

The bathroom was equally as ravish. The floors were made of solid white marble, and the size was easily bigger than my room in Forks. In the center of the room was an elegant, white bathtub. The sink was on the right side of the wall along with the toilet. The far side of the wall consisted a huge, 'length of the wall' mirror. Then on the right side of the wall was a glass room with a showerhead set at the ceiling like a lamp, so that the water poured straight down. It looked so inviting.

I checked my closet and picked out a nice, simple blue dress with silver shoes before heading back into the bathroom to shower. I turned the water onto the hottest I could, yearning to feel some comfort. I could practically 'feel' the grime and stench coming off my body, and the hot water relaxed me. I sighed heavily for more times than I could count. _Why was Edward here? Why did he pretend to be 'Anthony?' What did he want?_ All these thoughts ran through my head as I tried to make sense of his actions. I don't think that I could ever get over him. I would always love him, for he had my heart, which I could never take back, nor did I want it. But oh, how I wished he would love me in return… It physically hurt how much I loved him. My body yearned and needed him so much that when it was not close to his, a numbness would envelop me. But I had to fight it. I had to keep my walls that held me together up. If I let them down, all the pieces of me would spill out, leaving me completely defenseless and vulnerable. If I ever got hurt when I had let my walls down, there would be no hope for me anymore. So, the walls were to stay up. I could never let them down. I could never trust anyone with my heart ever again, not even Edward. This I vowed to myself.


	15. Chapter 14: Disguise

**Dah!!! I know it's been like eighteen years since I last updated!!! Please, please forgive me! I made this chapter I little longer than usual for you guys, and this is a real turning point in the story. Please enjoy and review!!!!!!!**

Chapter Fourteen: Disguise

I stayed at the castle for two weeks. During which I had kept myself exceedingly busy. I would not sleep. Instead I went to all of the castles large libraries, and read nearly every book in them. In the mornings, I went for a quiet stroll around the castle, memorizing every part of it's grander. During the afternoons Brian and I usually spent time together. We had really become best friends, and I was starting to rely on him; which I was not sure was a good thing or a bad thing. He was such a gentlemen, like…Edward. He was born around the mid eighteen hundreds, so he was a good fifty years older than _him_. He never pressed me for explanations for my strange behavior. Never complained about my sometimes-depressing mood. He was always there for me. Sometimes, we would simply sit down together, with a cup of hot chocolate, and he would listen to me.

Our favorite thing to do was ride on the beautiful trails around the castle. There's something about riding a horse that makes everything about nature seem more beautiful. The golden amber leaves swaying in the wind, the crisp scent of fresh water and flowers, the herby smell of basil was somewhere in the air, adding to the bouquet of aromas... It certainly succeeded in diverting me.

It had appeared to everyone else that I was healing, that I was slowly starting to get over Edward. Oh, how I wish that were true… The truth was that I was just getting better at hiding my despair. I've had so many, too many, years of practice in the art of deception and hiding my truth feelings was my specialty. The numbness and the longing were always there. However, I learned that I could push them off to the side. Keep a smile on my face and a sweet softness in my voice but on the inside I was being crushed. I needed Edward. I needed him like a bird needs the sky, like a horse need to run. Without him I was miserable. I couldn't function; I couldn't find any meaning in life anymore. I really needed him; which is what scared me the most.

**EPOV**

My heart was being crushed with every step she took away from me. I found myself paralyzed from the shock, from the pain… I stood very, very still becoming a statue of grief. I did not move until I couldn't hear her sobs or her footprints anymore. I couldn't think, my mind was only able to grasp that she was gone…

_Idiot! Why did you have to kiss her? Did you honestly think that a simple change in hair color and some contacts could fool her? Stupid, stupid, stupid! You've ruined everything. You've hurt Bella for the thousandth time. Don't you think that it's time to just give up? She doesn't want you, not anymore. You've hurt her beyond repair. You're lucky if she would even talk to you. _I told myself as I let my head hang down.

_Oh Edward…_ Alice's thoughts came into my head with sympathy and despair.

"Alice…please," I whispered slowly, afraid that I would shatter if I made any sound.

"_Go after her, explain."_

"I think I've done enough damage Alice, I'm not going to hurt her again…"

_"But can't you see that she's hurting without you? She has nightmares Edward, about you."_

_"_As well she should, I'm an complete monster…"

_"Her dreams are not about that Edward. She still loves you; she says it every night. She needs you Edward, as much as you need her. Maybe even more..."_

"Alice, just stop. It's over. I've lost, she doesn't want me and she never will, not anymore…And I know for certain that she doesn't love me. She can't. No one can have that good of a heart as to forgive their murderer and still love them."

_"But Bella does! Edward, I've been hiding my visions from you but she really does love you and she's really hurt right not. You have to go after her, and hurry; I can see her planning to run away. Go!_

And apparently I had lost my mind because I was suddenly running. I took the annoying contact lenses out of my eyes so that I could see better. It's not like I needed them anymore anyways. I followed her scent towards the palace, the Volturi palace. Yes, I had definitely lost my mind. I had to find her, I had to talk to her and apologize. I had to make things right.

I barged through the front doors, so clearly I was suicidal too, and ran up the stars in the direction of her room. However, when I opened the door, to my horror, I found the Volturi family waiting for me.

Their heads all turned from a letter and snapped up to look at me. Confusion first hitting them before realization.

"YOU!" Jane screeched, looking outraged, storming towards me. "You did this! You took her away from us! " She screamed.

"What? Where's Bella, I need to talk to her."

"Well too bad cause she's gone. As soon as your face showed up she ran for the hills," Jane spat. "I don't blame her. How dare you show your face here after all that you've done to her? Are you here just to be distracted again? Are you really that much of an ass that you could care less about Bella's feelings? Oh, you are gonna pay Ed-,"

"Jane! That is enough," Aro's voice boomed. "Bella wouldn't want this."

That seemed to send Jane back into the shadows as she scowled at me and started cursing in her head.

"Watch your language young lady…" Aro cautioned before turning back to me.

"Why are you here Edward," he asked very slowly and calmly.

"Bella," I breathed. "I kissed her and she…she ran away, really upset. I came here to apologize to her and to explain myself. To tell her that leaving her was the biggest mistake of my life and how I've never stopped loving her and-."

"Wait, hold up. Why don't you explain your story from the beginning," Aro interrupted.

And so I did.

"…So I had to come back. I knew that she would freak if she knew who I was so I disguised myself. I came back to Italy this time to _attempt _to make her fall in love with me again then tell her who I really was if I succeeded. However, I blew it tonight. I couldn't help myself and I kissed her. She instantly recognized me and ran away, so I followed after her, unfortunately I was too late…" I hung my head.

"That's quite an interesting story Edward. I can tell that you still love her. If only she knew that… However, I know for a fact that she still loves you," Aro told me.

"How?" I asked. _How could she possibly love a monster?_

"Here, read this," he said, handing me a note.

Dear family,

I'm so sorry. I can't stay here. _He's_found me and I have to leave. Please don't follow me. I don't know when or if I'll be back. I need to get away from him, and put myself back together again before he breaks me into even tinier pieces than I already am. Please, don't hurt him. I wouldn't want anything to happen to him. Ever. That means you Felix and Demetri, and _Jane. _I'm sure that I will always love him and will never be able to live if he did not exist. I thank you from the bottom of my broken heart for putting up with me all these years and for helping me through some of my darkest days. I'm afraid I'm going to have to fix this myself though. Again, thank you so, so much for all that you have done for me and I don't know how I could ever repay you. You truly are my family and I sincerely hope to see you all again.

Love,

Bells

I couldn't believe it. The words swirled around my head. Most were hurtful, '_He's_found me and I have to leave…. I need to get away from him, and put myself back together again before he breaks me into even tinier pieces than I already am.' Those words cut through my heart, confirming how much I had hurt her. However, one sentence nearly made me collapse. _' _I'm sure that I will always love him and will never be able to live if he did not exist.' She. Loved. Me. She…loved…me! Or at least she still loved me. She couldn't live without me! Oh, my Bella… She still loved me even though I hurt her so much.

"That little note there is the only thing that's keeping you alive, _Eddie_," Jane sneered, glaring at me. I ignored her. I could think of anything else except for the fact that Bella loved me.

"Go Edward. Go after her and get our Bella back," Aro commanded.

I nodded, folded the note in my pocket, and took off to the woods.

**BPOV**

"Miss Volturi, you have a letter," One of the maids announced. I sat up from my bed as she walked over with a silver platter. A letter sat in the middle; the paper was dipped in tea, which gave it its antique look. _It must be from the Volturi's, _I thought to myself.

Bella

Spelt the beautiful and unmistakable calligraphy.

"Thank you…" I replied dazed, as I hesitantly took the letter off the platter. I waited until she left the room until I opened it, my dead heart was pounding in my chest.

My dearest Bella,

Words cannot describe how idiotic I have been. It seems that I can't do anything right.

Unfortunately, I do not have the time, or the parchment, to express my apologies to you so I will make this brief.

Meet me. Please. This is all I ask of you. I just need to talk to you. I want to tell you in person how truly sorry for everything that I have done to hurt you. Please, meet me at Green Park tomorrow at 4 o'clock. I will leave you alone after that. If you don't come, then I will take no offense. I would deserve it. I will never bother you again after tomorrow, regardless of if you come or not. Just please know this Bella. I love you, and I will continue to love you until the ends of forever.

Love Always,

Edward

My entire body was trembling as I read the letter. He wanted to meet me. Tomorrow. As in the day after today. I couldn't think, I couldn't breathe, I couldn't even manage anything besides stare at the letter unbelievingly. _He_ wanted to talk to _me. _Oh god, what do I do?

_Go._

No, I couldn't. I couldn't bear it. I couldn't even look at his handwriting without breaking down! _Oh god Bella shut up! Stop being so afraid and just go. He's leaving after tomorrow. It's your last chance. Now or Never. What's it going to be?_

I sighed, and closed my eyes. This was our last chance. My future, and Edward's was in my own hands now. And this time, I was going to make sure that we got our Happily Ever After.

1 Day Later

**LPOV**

I was so excited I could barely stand still. Today was the day. Today was the day that all of our lives would change. Forever. I had perfected my ability in taking away others vampire's powers, and now was the moment of truth.

**BPOV**

I was walking in a dazed state, towards Green Park, which was right by the palace. I was numb. Completely numb with fear. I was so incredibly nervous. I just wanted things to be normal again. I wanted him; I wanted 'us' again. I wanted my happily ever after that I had lost so long ago…only, I didn't know how to get it back.

I was so distracted with my own thoughts, that I did not sense the figure, looming above me in one of the trees. However, when I did notice it, it was too late.

**EPOV**

I was freaking out. Bella would be here any minute…if she even came at all. This was my last chance to beg for her forgiveness. It was obvious that she didn't want me in her life, so I decided it was best to leave it forever after this day.

I was pacing back and forth by one of the trees, leaving a ditch in the ground from pacing so fast. I didn't know where to start. I didn't know what to say. I didn't even know what to do, when she got here. All I knew is that I had to make things better.

**BPOV**

"Hello there _Bella_," sneered Liz who was standing right in front of me.

"_Liz._ What do you want? Another beating?"

She snarled at me.

"Actually, if my memory serves me correctly, you were the one to run away last time," she said in a sickly sweet, menacing voice.

I growled back in response, I was starting to fume.

"Oh and actually, now that you mentioned it there was something I wanted…"

"And what would that be? A life maybe? Or a new face…" I sassed.

She chuckled a dark laugh and glared.

"No. Something far more valuable."

That's when I felt it. I started to feel weak, like something was draining me. Liz was staring at me with a look of pure contentment in her face. She was draining my power. _ Why do I feel so weak? This didn't happen last time. _I realized then how much danger I was in. I started to black out. The last word that escaped from my lips was:

"Edward…"

**LPOV**

_Yes! _I had done it! I looked down at myself. I was Bella. I had managed to take her power, and turn myself into her. I could even block other vampire's mental powers, just like her. I could retain her power for as long as I wanted. However, I could only have one power at a time. I hoped that I wouldn't get too bored with hers.

I called Brian.

"It's done, Bella is by the Old Oak Tree. I'll lay her on the bench so that it looks like she's sleeping. She won't be out for long though. We need to hurry."

I snapped my cell phone shut and ran to find Edward.

**EPOV**

"Edward? Sorry I'm late."

_Bella!_

I whirled around to face my love. She was as beautiful as always.

"Bella…" I sighed, walking over to her, slowly, afraid that she might run away.

"Bella. I don't know how to start. I've been a complete ass. I can hardly even live with myself anymore for all the pain I have caused you. Words cannot even describe how sorry I am. Or what a heartless, soulless monster I am. I just-,"

"Edward, listen to me," she said in a soft voice. Her eyes showed nothing but love and I got momentarily lost in them. She put her hand on my shoulder, and then on my cheek. Her fingers left trails of fire wherever they touched.

"I don't blame you for anything. In fact, I should even be the one to apologize. I was a coward. I was afraid to get hurt again, so I pushed you away. But now, I know what I want more than anything else in the world," she whispered, her hand still on my cheek.

"What would that be, love?"

"Us," she whispered, and crashed her lips against mine.

It took me a moment to respond because of the absolute shock that ran through my body. Thoughts were rushing through my head. Bella was here. Bella didn't blame me. Bella actually thought that this was all her fault. It was so typical of her. And Bella was here! Kissing me! I was elated to say the least. However…something felt…off. The kiss felt…different. But I pushed it into the back of my head, and reminded myself that this was Bella, and I kissed her back with all the love I could manage into a kiss.

_My Bella was back._

**(Meanwhile…)**

I fluttered my eyes open, and found that I was lying on a bench, in Green Park. _How did I get here? _That was when I remembered. _Liz!_

I shot up, my head whirling as I did. _What happened to me?_

"Easy there," a familiar voice came from behind me. I whirled around again, causing my head to spin as I did.

Brian was standing behind me, leaning on the bench as he looked at me with concern.

"What…what happened?" I croaked. I had never felt so weak.

"I don't know. I heard that you had gone out for a walk, so I thought that I would go and join you, but then I found you on the ground. I couldn't take you to the hospital for obvious reasons, so I just stayed here with you. I was kind of hoping that you could fill me in on what happened," he explained.

"What time is it?" _Edward…_

"It's…4:15."

"Oh my god. Brian I have to go! I'll see you later, thank you for staying with me!" I flashed him a huge smile, and ran to find Edward. _I hope I'm not too late. _

What I saw then stopped me in my tracks. Edward was still there…and he was with Liz…and they were kissing.

Read the author note at the bottom if you're confused.

**I know it's a little confusing. What happened was it was really Liz who Edward was kissing but she was disguised as Bella. And then when Liz sensed that Bella was near, she turned herself back to make it look like Edward was kissing Liz. Get it now? Poor Bella. I felt so bad for her when I was writing this. Please, please, please review!**


	16. Chapter 15: Shattered

**Hey!! I finally updated!!! I'm so sorry that I left you guys hanging like that for so long. Anyways here you go. It's shorter than most of my chapters but I just wanted to give you guys something to read. I think you're going to like this chapter! Enjoy!**

**Chapter 15: Shattered**

_10 years later_

**BPOV**

Love.

The very word made me sick to my stomach. It made my entire body tremble. It made tears start to well up into my eyes. And it made my heart shatter.

Love and I had our little affairs. I would believe in it one day, and curse it the next. But on that faithful day ten years ago, love and I had forever severed our relationship. Love used to fill my entire being; it used to be my friend. But now, love was a stranger to me. Even an enemy. It had been cruel. It had chewed me up and spit me out, like a piece of gum. And there I was, lying on the ground, just waiting for someone else to step on me.

The closest I had come to love was having my best friend Brian. I was completely, and utterly catatonic the day I saw Liz and Edward kissing. I could barely manage with Edward not loving me, but it was simply impossible to live knowing that not only did he not love me, but he loved someone else. _Liz._ I cursed that name to the fiery pits of hell. I hated her with every single piece of my being and wanted nothing more than to destroy her, to literally rip her to shreds, just like my heart had been ripped. I've thought about doing this countless times, but I don't think I could even risk the chance of seeing Edward again. I was constantly taunted by his image everyday. Just like when he left me. Except in my visions, I only ever saw him with _her._ Laughing together, holding hands, kissing… I wanted to die. But I couldn't even do that. The Volturi had immediately rejected my plea for them to kill me. They said they would never as long as they are ever alive. It wasn't exactly easy to get killed, and believe me, I wanted to.

I wanted to die. To curl up into a ball, let my pain overwhelm me, and die. But I couldn't.

After…the…let's call it incident, happened Brian took me under his wing. I couldn't go back to my family. It was time for me to start fresh. Completely erase Isabella Swan off the surface of the earth. I assumed a new look. Long, jet-black hair, porcelain white skin and red lips with stormy grey eyes full of sorrow and grief. I was known as Holly Danes.

Five years ago, Brian's parents had forced him to take a wife so that he could take the thrown. In all my years that I had known him, he had not had a single girlfriend. He had not even looked at a girl, and I was even beginning to think he was gay. But one day while we were vacationing in France he proposed to me. He knew that my heart still belonged to Edward and he did not expect anything from me. He told me that if he was going to be married to anyone it was going to be me because I was his best friend. Our relationship was strictly friends only but I knew that he liked me as much more than that. However he respected my space and didn't ask anything of me. I said yes and we were officially married 6 months later. Our marriage was beneficial to both of us. He married me, making him able to take the crown, and being married to him kept me busy. I became queen and put my whole heart into making England the best it could be. Politicians were already calling me history book worthy. But it didn't matter to be honest. Nothing mattered. I had lost the most important battle of my life and would have to live on forever with my failure.

I couldn't move on…that was out of the question, and believe me I tried to. I really did. I wanted to start having feelings for Brian. I _wanted_ this hole in my chest to be filled in again, even if not completely. Brian was perfect. Safe, reliable, and trustworthy. I knew that he would never hurt me, but I just couldn't find myself to fall for him. It's been ten years since that faithful day, and I still couldn't bear to even think about that day. I knew that Brian was still worried about me. Sometimes at night, I would have terrible, nightmares and run into his room sobbing, and he would just hold me all night, and rub my back, and he would tell me things like 'it will get better,' and 'it was just a dream.' But it wasn't a dream. It was my life. Everyday I get visions of what Edward might be doing with Liz right now. Did he take her to our meadow? Did they get engaged? Married? The thoughts were just too unbearable to think about. Then sometimes, occasionally about twice a year, a monster possesses me. Liz took everything from me. My family, my home, my love…am I supposed to just sit back and let her do that to me? That's when the monster comes out. This monster was frightening and uncontrollable, and it wanted only one thing. For Liz to be dead. However, fear creeps inside of me and binds me. Finding Liz would mean finding Edward, and I don't think that I could ever manage to even look at him ever again. Also, they were in love. Just because I didn't get my happy ending, didn't mean that they couldn't get theirs…right? If I destroyed their happiness then I would be no better than Liz herself, and the world did not need more than one eternally suffering person on it's face, which is what Edward would be if I took his love away. So I made a promise to myself. Unless Liz started to endanger others, I would not kill her. Making the promise was easy; however keeping it was a whole different story.

_Three Years Later_

I sat across Brian on the plane. I was pissed. He had literally dragged me into the plane saying he was treating me to a surprise. He knew how much I hated them. I shot daggers at him while I sat begrudgingly as far away from him as possible. He really didn't look like a king. His chocolate brown hair had a slightly tousled look to it, nowhere near as messy as _his_, but definitely dishelmed. He had soft, and kind eyes and soft facial features his body was tall and lanky, he was very boyish looking, certainly not the fairytale king stereotype.

"Are you going to at least tell me where we're going?" I demanded.

He smirked and his eyes twinkled. _No he wouldn't. _

"You know what you're doing is equivalent to kidnapping. I could press charges," I threatened.

"And exactly what would the 'authorities' do to me? Are you forgetting who and what I am Holly_?"_

"You have a point. But then again…I could always just kick your ass. It would be a lot simpler, and a lot more satisfying," I stated.

"I'd like to see you try."

I lunged at him and he flinched.

"That wasn't fair, you caught me by surprise," he whined.

"All is fair in war," I snorted.

"…Or love…" he mumbled to himself.

"Don't. Say. That. Word!" I snarled at him, my eyes turning into a dark onyx color.

The happy carefree smile was instantly gone and the air became silent and stiff.

"I'm sorry Holly, I forgot."

"It's okay…just-just don't let it happen again."

And we rode in silence.

About an hour later we finally landed and Brian held the limo door open for me while I got in, still completely oblivious to where we were going. About 10 minutes later we had finally arrived at our destination and I had to say, this was probably the first and last surprise that I will actually like.

We were at the Volturi castle. Home of my second family who I hadn't seen in 15 years. A blink of an eye for them but 15 years of slow torture for me. I needed them.

"BELLA!" a screech came from the roof of the castle. There was Jane, with Alec hovering over the balcony waving down at me. Jane was jumping up and down and Alec was laughing at her.

"BELLA!" she cried again and leapt off the seven-story castle and gracefully landed on the ground in front of me. She wrapped her tiny arms around me and I wrapped mine around her in return.

"Jane, it is so good to see you," I replied.

"Oh Bella! We were so worried! We all heard what that scumbag Edward did to you-"

"-Jane… please,"

"-And I wanted to go and hunt that little bitch Liz down but Aro told me not to since it would 'hurt' that asshole Cullen kid and he said that you wouldn't want that. The only reason I listened to him was because I thought that you would like to have the honors yourself when the time comes so I waited. I personally could care less about Cullen's 'feelings,'" she snorted.

I chuckled at this little comment. The closest thing that I had come to laughing in 15 years. I turned to Brian who looked happy.

"So this is the surprise huh?"

"Yup…I noticed you were looking even more depressed and I thought a little family reunion would help you feel better," he explained.

I smiled at him. It really was just what I needed.

"Bella! You're back!" Alec chirped and gave me a hug too. Jane had never let go.

"Hey Alec, missed you. But please, you too Jane, please don't call me Bella. I'm Holly now."

"Holly…got it," he replied.

"Holly?" Jane asked confused.

"Bella Swan no longer existed. She died 15 years ago. I'm Holly now," I replied simply. They didn't question any more.

"Well come on, let's go inside. The others are dieing to see you," Jane said, while towing me towards the castle.

Everyone was waiting for me when I got there. I received warm hugs from everyone and I was ecstatic to say that all of their eyes were pure gold in color meaning that they had not had human blood in years.

"Be-Holly, it is so nice to have you back with us. Only if even for a short time. Brian has arranged to stay here for a week with us, which means no sleeping for you since we have so much to catch up on," Aro said warmly.

"I have no problem with that," I replied.

And so my week began. It was a week of fun and relaxing. Jane constantly kept me entertained, and Brian became close friends with Aro. It was exactly what I needed; it was like a tiny part of me was coming back to life. The feeling was amazing and I never wanted the week to end. However, fate had to rear its ugly head and news came the day before I was set to leave. One of the Volturi's scouts had come back from the Forks area in the United States, and had reported that someone was building an army of vampire newborns. My heart froze the second I heard Forks.

"What did the vampire that was doing this look like?"

"Golden eyes, brown hair, and pretty plain looking," he replied.

_Liz!_

"Are you sure?"

He nodded. A million thoughts were swirling around in my head. I've waited for an opportunity like this. An excuse to finally kill her, and this was it.

"I'm leaving," I said suddenly.

"Leaving? Where are you going?" Brian asked.

"Why are you leaving Holly?" Jane whined.

"I'm going to Forks, and I'm going to kill Liz once and for all."

**So????? Did you guys like it?? I know it's short but I wanted you guys to have something to read. Anyways PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE review!!! Thanks!**


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